Ties of Friendship
by Kitt Chaos
Summary: Sometimes the ties that bind are wrought of blood -- even when the other isn't family. AU. Genfic. Seto and Yugi. Prequel -- with Lucid's permission, of course! -- for Lucidscreamer's Yu-Gi-Oh YxYY Romance, 'Shadows on the Nile'.
1. Prologue

Sometimes the ties that bind are wrought of blood -- even when the other isn't family. AU. Genfic. Seto and Yugi. Prequel (with Lucid's permission, of course!) for Lucidscreamer's Yu-Gi-Oh Y/YY Romance, 'Shadows on the Nile'.

**Ties of Friendship**

Prologue

The psychic awareness of Mokuba's location burned in his brain with an almost physical agony. He had to get to Mokuba, before it was too late. He knew Kaiba's brother was in trouble. The man who held him would hurt him -- very soon. Yugi knew it as infallibly as he knew the sun would rise tomorrow.

Kaiba had brought damn-near a private army to storm the warehouse. Yugi had never realized the power of money until he'd seen the forty, stern-eyed, coldly professional men who responded to Kaiba's summons. Yugi was content to hang back and let these combat-trained men handle things...

But the psychic agony in his mind wouldn't let him. The danger to Mokuba was escalating, spiraling up in a threatening crescendo that Yugi knew would only end in the poor kid's death if he didn't do something. He ran toward the outer door that even now Kaiba's men were breaking down. He didn't pause, and would have smashed into the door except they did get it open in time. Kaiba was right on his heels.

"What the hell are you doing, Mutou?!"

"The danger -- it's increasing. I have to get to him, now!"

"He's _my_ brother. You've done your part..."

"No! Somehow, I know -- there's something -- I have -- to do!" Yugi gasped as he ran, somehow managing to keep up with Kaiba's significantly longer strides.

"What can _you_ do that I can't?"

"I don't know! I don't know!" Yugi shouted. "I just know -- there's something -- I still have to do!"

That 'something' had become clear at the next barrier. Mokuba's kidnapper, a man named Keith Howard, had thugs in his employ. Those thugs pounced on Kaiba and his men, determined to keep them from advancing into the large central storage room that was the entire width of the warehouse. Across that expanse, on the rise of a concrete loading dock, a blond man held a long, bared blade over a small, struggling body. Snatches of a wholly unpleasant, braying laugh, and taunts floated through the chaos of the battle raging at the door.

"Haw, haw! You'll never see him again -- in one piece, that is! I might not have gotten my ransom from you, Kaiba, but I got my revenge! Or, I will, once I slice your little brother into little, bloody ribbons!"

"I'll see you in hell first!" Kaiba shouted. He struggled to move forward, to enter the room and go to his little brother, but the mercenaries holding the door kept pushing him back. Yugi noticed more than one gleam of a blade in the throng of battle near the door. Somehow, he managed to twist the right way, duck and sidestep in some seemingly preordained pattern that not only kept him safe from harm, but served to get him into the room, and out of the sight of Keith's mercenaries clustered at the entrance. He made his way as quickly as he could using the boxes stacked one atop the other in the warehouse to hide his approach until he was right there at the base of the stairs of the loading dock.

"I think I'll let him get halfway across the floor before I slit your throat, you little brat!" Keith said. "You've been so much trouble, I'm gonna see how many times I can slice you before you pass out -- that is, if you don't just die first!" He cackled again.

"Mokuba! I'm coming!" Kaiba yelled. Yugi turned his head. Sure enough, Kaiba, Roland, and a handful of others from Kaiba's squad of men had fought their way into the room. Dozens of Kaiba's men poured through the door -- more than enough to control Keith's men still battling at the doorway. Kaiba charged through the warehouse to get to his brother.

Keith's hand, holding eighteen inches of wickedly sharp blade, raised up. His other hand twisted into the hair on the back of Mokuba's head, forcing the child to arch in pain -- and making a very easy and tempting target of the boy's neck. Yugi watched how the muscles in Keith's bicep bunched. The man was insane. He was really going to slaughter Mokuba.

"It's too late!" Keith cackled madly, bringing his arm down in a swift, wide, vicious slice toward Mokuba's exposed neck.

"MOKUBA!!" Kaiba's cry was of fury and despair. Yugi knew that Kaiba knew he couldn't get there in time to stop Keith. He sensed Kaiba's panic that he was going to be forced to watch as his little brother, who he loved more than he loved his own life, was killed before his very eyes. Kaiba knew, and still he charged forward, striving to stop it, somehow. Futile, hopeless, but...

Yugi's psychic sense set his brain on fire, screaming so loudly that the din of the room couldn't pierce it.

_No! NO! I will NOT let this happen!_

Yugi vaulted over the lip of the loading dock just as that blade came down.

"Where the hell did you come from?!" Keith shouted.

Yugi had nothing. He had no fighting skill, had never been seriously threatened by a knife before. He held nothing in his hands that could be used as a weapon to stop Keith, catch or deflect that lethal blade, or as a shield to protect Mokuba from it coming down into his vulnerable neck... Nothing. Nothing at all.

Except his hands.

He jumped forward, stood directly over Mokuba, and thrust his hands up, over his head. Keith, unable to check his attack, stop it or redirect it, slashed viciously across both of Yugi's hands, slicing open both palms -- just as the enraged Kaiba and his men got there.

Kaiba grabbed Keith by the front of his jacket, his hand twisting the fabric tight enough to threaten to choke the man to death. With adrenalin-charged strength, Kaiba, using only that one hand, flung Keith with impressive force toward the floor below the loading dock.

"Kill him!" he growled at his waiting men.

Roland's arms came down around Yugi, supporting his weight as Yugi staggered. Yugi couldn't seem to get his arms to cooperate. He wanted to drop them, or at least move them so his hands would stop raining blood all over Mokuba, but they didn't pay any attention to his wishes.

"That was the bravest action I've ever been privileged to witness," Roland told him. "I've got you, Mr. Mutou."

Even with these reassurances, it wasn't until Kaiba had scooped Mokuba up into his arms that Yugi could force his arms to relax. He watched as Kaiba hugged his brother tight for a very long moment before gently freeing his brother from the plastic binders Keith had restrained his wrists with. Dimly, Yugi was aware of Roland wrapping his hands tightly in clean gauze from a first aid kit one of Kaiba's men had brought. Yugi thought it best to watch Kaiba and Mokuba, so he wouldn't freak out by looking at his hands. He knew he was hurt -- badly. A terrible thrill had shot through him, body and soul, as that blade had sliced into his hands. He had been very suddenly, and forcefully, brought to the realization that he was mortal -- and very, very fragile. Now, he couldn't feel his hands at all. He resisted the urge to look down and make certain they were still attached, afraid that perhaps they weren't.

_I don't want to faint, _Yugi thought to himself. _That would be -- embarrassing, after all that's happened._

Determinedly, he continued to watch as Kaiba felt carefully along each of Mokuba's limbs, checked through his hair for wounds, compressed his mouth into a thin, dangerous line at the signs of bruising on Mokuba's arms and legs, and the faint bracelets of blood where Mokuba had struggled against the plastic binders Keith had used on his wrists. Kaiba's panic seemed to ease once he reassured himself that the blood all over Mokuba was Yugi's. Mokuba, for his part, appeared stunned, neither crying nor laughing in relief, seemingly unaware that the ordeal he'd endured was over.

That was when the ambulance and police arrived. Roland stayed with Yugi, explaining in detail the first aid he'd applied, and accompanying Yugi on the ambulance ride to the hospital. Once he'd been loaded and the ambulance was on its way, pain, more intense than anything he'd ever felt before ignited in his hands, and Yugi's world dissolved into that swirling, red agony.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Seto Kaiba stalked down the corridor. Grasped in his left hand were ribbons, and floating in his wake was a veritable rainbow of helium-filled balloons. Quick, impatient steps displayed his desire to be anywhere else but here, if there were someone to witness them, but the corridor was night-time quiet.

"Yugi Mutou," Kaiba declared at the man behind the centrally-place nurses' station.

"Pardon?" The man blinked at him uncomprehendingly.

"Where is Yugi Mutou? Which room is his?" Kaiba clarified.

"It's after visiting hours..."

Kaiba heaved a sigh. Yes, he knew it was after hours. In his defense, it had been the most trying day of his life. Mokuba had been highly traumatized, then his security detail had required explicit instructions, and the police had to be mollified. All of it had taken time -- time that had slipped away so that it was now deep on the other side of midnight, and well past normal visiting hours.

"Mr. Mutou is in room eight-fifty-four," a woman offered. She reached forward to claim and open a chart in a single swift move. "He's sedated, but you can leave the balloons for him for when he wakes up."

Nodding his acknowledgment of the information, Kaiba turned and walked off.

He hated hospitals. Just hated them. _Of course,_ he wryly noted, _no one likes hospitals_. Bad things happened in hospitals. The only time visiting a hospital had not heralded an inimical change in his life, had been the day Mokuba was born. Aside from that... It was the smell he hated the most. The antiseptic smell, even masked by citrus notes as it was in this hospital, had wound itself so deeply into his mind with the realization of crushing bad news that it had the power to make him feel like a frightened child, again. He'd spent hours, as a frightened child, waiting, and waiting, and waiting, for the news that his mother was okay, that she had survived the emergency surgery to save her life. _That_ news never came. While he was still trying to understand that his mother was dead -- gone -- never coming back -- never hugging him again, never swatting him gently for being "cheeky", never kissing the top of his head goodnight... The bad news about his father had come. All the hours of waiting didn't bring any good news at all. His parents were torn from him, leaving him with a younger brother to care for, and distant relatives who glanced at him sideways with cold, disillusioned eyes. Not once did one of those relatives offer a hug, a touch, or even simple words of comfort. The antiseptic smell of _this _hospital brought that panicky and helpless feeling charging back to take over his heart, again.

Kaiba took a deep breath. Roland had called ahead, so he knew that Mutou had survived his surgery, and had been moved to a private room. Kaiba hated hospitals, but, with his grandfather in Egypt, Yugi Mutou didn't have anyone to -- well -- to look after him. And, the debt Kaiba owed to him was so great, it was the least he could do to visit, and leave behind a lousy bunch of balloons. Sedated, hmm? So, Mutou'd be asleep. Kaiba growled mentally at that. He'd have to come back tomorrow in order to complete his self-imposed duty to visit -- as a silent acknowledgment of how wrong he'd been, and how much it had cost Yugi Mutou to prevent Kaiba's error from taking everything that mattered to him away.

He stepped into the dimly lit room. A frown creased his forehead. Mutou was supposed to have a private room, and this one, a double, clearly had someone else in it. Kaiba walked past the other sleeping patient and twitched aside the privacy curtain pulled halfway around Mutou's bed.

Yugi Mutou looked awful. His face was a strange sort of whitish-grey, as if the blood that normally tinged it with the color of life had been drained from his body. Even though he was clearly sleeping, there was a pained sort of strain around his eyes. But what startled Kaiba the most was how utterly quiet Mutou was. He never would have claimed that Mutou was exceptionally energetic, but this sort of stillness was the life-force at a frighteningly low ebb. It took a full minute of holding himself in cautious stillness to confirm the slow rise and fall of the man's chest, and catch the soft susurration of his breath. Hearing what damage Mutou had sustained in a semi-detailed, bullet-pointed medical report from an aide hadn't brought home the realization of just how much Kaiba owed him. Seeing him -- like this -- did.

It was then that he noticed it, and his mind exploded in rage.

Mutou's face appeared strained because he was. His shoulders were pulled into an uncomfortable-looking, stretched-out angle, for his arms, from just below his elbows to his wrists, had been bound against the metal rails of the bed with no-nonsense canvas restraints. Kaiba lifted the light blanket and confirmed that Mutou's legs were similarly immobilized. His lips compressed into a displeased line. There was no way _Yugi_ could threaten anyone to the point of needing to be restrained. My god, the man had just had surgery! A suspicious glance confirmed that Yugi's hands _were_ bandaged.

Yugi's hands...

He'd taken matters into his own hands when he had to. Now was the time for Kaiba to return the favor. He pulled out his cell phone and signaled Roland.

"Are you ready for me to bring the car around front, sir?"

"Yes, but first, call Dr. Karasu and have him meet us at the house," Kaiba responded.

"Sir?"

"I know he was just there this afternoon tending to Mokuba. He's got another patient. Bring the car around when you are finished calling him."

Closing his phone and replacing it in a pocket, Kaiba stared grimly at the damning restraints. _At least they padded them,_ he noted the white padding preventing the sturdy canvas from biting into Yugi's arms. Matter-of-factly Kaiba pinched off the flow of the IV drip by sliding the flow control wheel in its track. He then pulled the business end of the catheter from its place lodged in a vein on the inside of Mutou's elbow reasoning it would hamper him to try to keep track of an IV pole, bag and line, and unconscious man all at the same time.

Kaiba ruthlessly damped down a spurt of alarm as he untied Mutou from his bed. His limbs were distressingly like dead weights as he freed each of them from the restraints. _What the hell happened that they would restrain you so thoroughly, and sedate you on top of it?_ Kaiba wondered as he reached down to pick Mutou up, using the blanket to wrap him as he settled the smaller man across his arms.

"What...? What are you doing?!" the man from the nurses' station demanded as Kaiba passed the desk. "I'll call security!"

"I'm getting my -- my friend out of here before you kill him," Kaiba stated flatly. "My personal physician has been summoned and will meet us at my mansion."

"This is... You can't do this!"

"I can, and I will. Get out of my way."

It would have been a far more difficult undertaking except that Roland appeared at the door and smoothed things over. He'd gotten ahold of Dr. Karasu who even now, after Roland handed his cell phone to the duty nurse on this floor, explained about how this irregular break of hospital protocol was in the best interest of the patient. About how he would take full responsibility for Yugi Mutou's care, sending a fax to that effect with the promise of the original signed document couriered over in the morning. That Seto Kaiba, yes, _that_ Seto Kaiba, was acting under his authority to discharge Mr. Mutou and relocate him for skilled nursing and care at a facility that met and exceeded the standards set by the hospital...

The whole while Kaiba held Yugi and waited for the furor to die down and comport itself to his will. He growled as the nurse, after the phone conversation with Dr. Karasu, tried to take Yugi from his arms to put him in a wheelchair for his official hospital discharge. Pacing just behind him, Roland held copies of Yugi's hospital file as Kaiba carried him to the limousine. Kaiba raised an eyebrow when Roland grunted as he opened the passenger door of the automobile for him. The bodyguard shook his head minutely, pulled out his cell phone, opened it, listened, then helpfully held the instrument to Kaiba's ear.

"You better hope this Yugi Mutou doesn't die on me, Mr. Kaiba. I've surgery privileges at that hospital and if anything goes wrong, it could well be my license on the line. As it is, I will have to go tomorrow and retroactively discharge him. Reams of paperwork. You know how I hate administrative paperwork. I'd say this night is going to cost you, but..."

Kaiba permitted himself a smug smirk. He was good for whatever amount the doctor wanted to add to his usual retainer. "I wouldn't put your license at risk, doctor. I _am _concerned that if I had left Mutou there, he would have died. I don't like how they were treating him."

"It isn't like you to over-react," the doctor mused aloud. "I'm on my way to the mansion, now. I will meet you there."

Kaiba wondered at his actions on the short ride from the hospital to his house. He wondered why it didn't feel right to ease Yugi's slight weight from his arms to the seat. The only person he'd ever held like this was Mokuba. A tangle of emotions made a shamble of his thoughts as he looked down into Yugi's deathly pale, far-too-still face.

_Guilt. I feel guilty for not listening to him sooner. _But it was more than that. _Gratitude._ If Yugi hadn't acted... It could have been Mokuba so frighteningly still in his arms -- or, more likely, worse. _Frightened?_ Why would he be frightened, concerned, really, for Mutou's health?

Because he was. Because he would give Mutou -- Yugi -- the world, if he could, for saving Mokuba. The absolute least he could do was make certain Yugi received the best possible care until he'd recovered. _There, _he told himself, satisfied that he'd found the answer, _I'm just concerned because he helped Mokuba and I feel an obligation toward him. It's nothing more than that._

Despite the late hour, and his grousing, the doctor made reproving clucking noises as he spied Yugi in Kaiba's arms. Kaiba finally permitted the unconscious man to be taken from him.

"My word! If he's a hundred pounds, it's a miracle!" the doctor exclaimed, hefting Yugi gently in his arms as he transfered him to the bed in one of Kaiba's guest rooms. By the door, Roland turned the overhead room lighting to its brightest. The doctor nodded, as this guest room had been outfitted according to his specifications, when Kaiba had first retained his services as the 'on-call' doctor for himself and Mokuba. Dr. Karasu reached out and took Yugi's pulse, listened to his heart and lungs with his stethoscope, pulled up an eyelid to test the unconscious man's pupil reactions to a penlight, and other simple, hands-on diagnostic tests he used to assess the condition of any of his patients.

Kaiba eased as the doctor's unhurried and unalarmed manner reassured him that Yugi was not in any sort of immediate danger from Kaiba's admittedly impulsive action. Roland, no stranger to assisting Dr. Karasu, crossed the room and handed him the copy of Yugi's file when the doctor concluded his basic examination. For several minutes the flipping of pages was the only sound in the room.

"Well. The surgery on his hands was unremarkable. It was mainly muscular damage. The nerves appeared intact, and I know the surgeon. He does good work, so Yugi should regain full use and function, barring any complications."

Relief flooded Kaiba, though he permitted none of it to show. That Dr. Karasu had already started calling Yugi by his first name showed that the doctor already cared about him. Kaiba's precipitous action seemed more and more to have been the right thing to do.

"They really messed up his meds after the surgery, though," the doctor continued. "I've seen this before. Perhaps because he was admitted through emergency, perhaps an oversight on the part of one of the attendings -- they were dosing him as if he were an average adult male. His body is simply not massive enough to cope with doses that high. Couple that with the fact he's evidently allergic to one of the drugs they used..." the doctor stroked Yugi's bangs out of his face. "It seems they induced some sort of 'episode' in him, requiring the restraints that so upset you. Since around one a.m. they've kept him sedated as well."

One of the reasons Kaiba preferred Dr. Karasu, aside from the fact the man would make house calls at any time of the day or night, was that he used drugs as the tools they were, not the be-all and end-all of treatment.

"What this boy needs is rest and quiet, not more drugs. He needs some peace to clear them from his body. He needs to be permitted to be conscious, so he can start to recover from his surgery." The doctor opened his clipboard and made notes. "Roland, bring me a catheter and Lactated Ringer's solution. That will help him clear the drugs quicker. He will need something for pain, but I don't think he needs the big gun drug they were using. There's no need to complicate his life by getting him addicted to a heavy-duty narcotic."

Since Mutou wasn't his little brother, Kaiba stepped out of the room while the doctor got him settled.

"He'll be fine, Seto," Dr. Karasu reassured when he and Roland left the room and closed the door behind them. "I'll stay in the adjoining room, tonight. We activated the monitor, so I'll hear him if he should rouse. I expect he won't. In fact, I'll be surprised if he wakes up for the next day or two." The doctor suddenly yawned. "Between Mokuba this afternoon and Yugi tonight, I'm out on my feet. Kindly don't have a medical emergency yourself. In fact, you look nearly as strung out as I feel. Get some sleep!"

-- -- -- --

"Seto?" A timorous voice carried out to the hallway of the private quarters as Kaiba, per his doctor's orders, headed for bed.

"I'm here, Mokuba," Seto called softly, entering his little brother's room. "Can't sleep, huh? You still worried?"

"No..." Mokuba hesitated. "I mean, it was scary, but I'm okay now. I'm just... Yugi was... I hope he's okay, that's all. There was so much blood..."

Yes, there had been. Seto subjected Mokuba to a searching 'big brother scan' as his kid brother liked to call it. "I'm okay, Seto. Not like this afternoon. I'm -- fine. But, I'm worried about Yugi. He's... His grandfather is away, and I know he's an adult, but no one should be all alone, especially after... Well, he's hurt."

Seto couldn't help it. Sometimes his little brother was so amazing, it made his heart burst a little with love and pride. _Yup, I definitely need sleep,_ Seto noted to himself as he reached out and hugged Mokuba tight. _Ah well, time enough for pride tomorrow. _"Yugi Mutou did a great service for me, in finding and saving you. They weren't treating him up to my standards at the hospital, so..."

"You brought him here?!" Mokuba threatened to strangle his big brother with his enthusiastic return hug. "You're going to take care of him here?"

"_Dr. Karasu_ is going to take care of him, but, yes, he's here. Until Mutou is well, since he helped you..." Seto squeezed just a little tighter, then reluctantly let his brother go.

There was something scarily wise and knowing in his little brother's eyes, even though a sweet and happy smile swept across his face. "I'm glad. Yugi is a friend, and he's hurt, so it's good that we are going to take care of him."

"_Dr. Karasu_ is taking care of him," Seto growled.

"Yes, Seto," Mokuba replied meekly, though the expression in his eyes were anything but meek. "Knowing that Yugi is going to be taken care of by the best makes me feel better. I'm still sad that he got hurt protecting me..."

"I'm not," Seto declared. "I'd rather anyone else get hurt than you, Mokuba," he clarified quickly. "Still, he deserves better than those idiots at the hospital. Until he's well, Mutou will stay here under Dr. K.'s care."

"You're the best, Seto!" Mokuba declared, shifting down under the covers until his head rested on his pillow. "Sleepy. 'Night, Seto."

"Good night, Mokuba." Seto let himself out of his brother's room, considerably relieved that Mokuba seemed to be taking no lasting harm from the past several days' events. He checked again with Roland that security around the mansion was as tight as possible before finally succumbing to his body's increasing pleas for sleep.

_Blood. So much blood._ All over Mokuba. Had he shoved Mutou out of the way to get to his little brother? No, the replay of events in the arena of dreams confirmed that he hadn't -- but he would have. He had been dimly aware, while clutching desperately to his little brother, feeling his arms, his legs, his head, his back -- looking him over and hugging him in an excess of relief, that Roland had knelt by Mutou's side, had eased the stricken young man to a supported sitting position, had staunched the copious flow of blood from his wounded hands, applied first aid, and summoned the ambulance. It wasn't that Seto couldn't be troubled by it. It was that until Mokuba was safe, there was no room in his attention for any other concern. Not even for the one who had saved his little brother.

None of the blood had been Mokuba's. All of it had been Yugi's gushing over his little brother like a horrific wave of benediction in the action that had certainly saved Mokuba from harm, and quite possibly saved his life. Kaiba didn't want to dwell on 'might have beens' enough to determine if the knife slash, if left unchecked, would have found a vulnerable opening to spill Mokuba's life in a red tide out on that warehouse floor.

Not that Mokuba had escaped completely unharmed. He was a feisty kid, not cowed easily, and some level of physical mayhem had been inflicted upon him in the days while he'd been held against his will. Not anything that wouldn't heal, given time -- bruises, a few cuts -- but enough for Kaiba to issue a command to his men that had placed him very much at odds with the police. Some level of psychological mayhem had been wrought on the poor kid, too; if nothing else, the helpless feeling of being kidnapped, and knowing he was being used as a pawn against his brother. Seto had promised to keep Mokuba safe, and, entirely against his will, that promise had been broken.

Yugi had made good on Seto's broken promise, stepping in, with wild claims that had seemingly been true, of knowing -- somehow -- where Mokuba was being held, and that Mokuba was in an increasingly dangerous situation. Yugi, despite Kaiba's bitter, mocking derision kept at him, and at him, and _at him_, finally suggesting that to check out this particular warehouse couldn't hurt anything. Yugi had found Mokuba. Yugi had protected him. And, Yugi had bled for him.

_Blood. So -- much -- blood..._

Seto woke up. His heart pounded in his chest, and, ironically, the sound of rushing blood filled his ears. _Mokuba is okay. Yugi is okay. The one who did this is dead. _He reminded himself of these critical facts. It helped, but only a little. Seto punched his pillow, ostensibly to tamp the downy fill, but more to discharge some of his anger and frustration at the situation. _I really hate hospitals_, the thought wandered lazily across his mind as he put his head into the sizable dent he'd made in the loft of his pillow. _Trips to hospitals have this way of really complicating my life, _Seto groused as he tried to compose his mind toward sleep again.

-- -- -- -- -- --  
Author's Note

The treatment I have Dr. Karasu giving to Yugi to help clear the medications from his bloodstream is based on about five minutes of Internet research into the subject. I humbly beg the pardon and indulgence of anyone skilled in the medical field who is reading my story!


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

The flash of a knife blade in his mind's eye woke him. He had to stop that killing edge from touching... from touching... Fire raced across his hands igniting them before proceeding to lick up his arms. Violent, green poison dripped in a tube leading into his arm. Moaning, he thought to reach up and prevent the poison from seeping into him, but his hands were cruelly wrapped into uselessly bandaged clubs at the end of his arms. The tearing sound of Velcro filled him with dread. _No, no! Not again!_ He moaned again as his flailing arm was expertly caught and wrapped tightly in a canvas restraint.

_Help me! _ he cried out in his mind. _Someone, make them stop! Just... make them stop. Don't let them hurt me... anymore..._

"What are you doing?!" Kaiba demanded as he smashed open the door to the room.

"He's delirious, Mr. Kaiba. The restraints will prevent him from hurting himself until the rest of the precipitating drug..." the nurse began still trying to loop the strap of the arm restraint around the raised side of the hospital-style bed.

"Mr. Larson -- find another way. Don't use those restraints on him."

"But..." The nurse dropped Yugi's partially-restrained arm to grasp his shoulders and keep him firmly on his back in the bed. Yugi seemed to calm easier under the touch now that the nurse's attention was not fixed on fastening the arm restraint.

Kaiba eyed the man. Mr. Larson was nearly as tall as he was, and brawny, too. He had to be skilled at nursing, else Dr. Karasu would not have sent him over this morning to tend to Yugi.

"He's -- tiny. Hardly a threat to you," Kaiba began. "I don't want to see him in restraints. Surely you are capable enough to keep him from hurting himself, without having to use demeaning, artificial aids to tie him down." Kaiba raised a challenging eyebrow at the nurse as he slid the hateful thing off Yugi's arm and flung it to the floor.

Sure, he could. But that would mean sitting here in the room until the rest of the drug pushed through the patient's body, to be on hand to manually restrain Mr. Mutou, instead of chatting up that cute honey in the kitchen downstairs. Feh. He'd wait until this bout was over, Mr. Moneypants left, then restrain the kid and...

The nurse's thoughts were rudely interrupted when Kaiba picked up a chair from the corner of the room, placed it next to the bed and sat down. "I suggest you find a chair for yourself. It's going to be a long day."

-- -- -- --

Kaiba didn't bother to count the number of times Mutou roused to semi-coherent awareness, raving about knives, fire and poison. The pattern was easy to follow, as Yugi vocalized each step of the way. Once he started talking about the poison dripping down toward his arm, Kaiba would stand and firmly pin Yugi's shoulders to the bed while Mr. Larson restrained his legs. Kaiba couldn't help but read the terror in Yugi's wide, strangely violet eyes as he pleaded with him to stop the poison. At some point, without him making a conscious decision about it, he'd started talking to Yugi.

"Mutou, it's okay. It's not poison. It'll clear the drug that's doing this to you..." Kaiba was amazed that Yugi had somehow known that something given to him in an IV had done this to him. Otherwise, why would he be so concerned about poison dripping into his arm? After each bout, Yugi's eyes would close in what appeared to be exhaustion and he'd rest. Sometimes it was as short as half an hour, sometimes as long as two hours between episodes of pitiable ravings. Mokuba peeked in at one point. Fortunately, Yugi was quiet. Kaiba didn't want his little brother to realize the toll this had taken on Yugi.

"He's going to be okay, isn't he?" Mokuba stood next to Seto's chair and unconsciously leaned into his brother's shoulder for comfort while he asked.

"Sure he is. Dr. K. says he will recover fully."

"Why is he still sleeping?"

"It's just taking a while to undo what the hospital staff did to him, that's all. Nothing we can't handle," Seto replied easily. Mr. Larson grimaced.

Mokuba stepped back and looked his brother full in the face. "You didn't eat lunch again, did you? No, don't answer. You're a rotten liar, big brother! I'll get something for you!"

Only a moment after Mokuba left, Yugi started raving again. "No! Dark Magician, stop! Thousands of knives... I can't stop them all! Help me!"

This was new. 'Dark Magician'? At least the reference to knives was still there.

"There's no knife here, Mutou," Kaiba murmured.

"No. _Knives. _ A thousand of them," Yugi replied.

Kaiba blinked. Yugi responded to him? Was he starting to come out of it? "No knives. Not one, not thousands," Kaiba told him firmly.

"Yes, yes, there are. I have to draw them. They have to come to me. Otherwise... they might hit..."

"You stopped them. You already stopped them. You don't have to..."

"FIRE!" Yugi cried out, twisting on the bed. "Fire soul... In my hands -- hinotoma..."

Knowing the pattern, Kaiba reached down to take Yugi's shoulders between his hands. Wearily, Mr. Larson reached for Yugi's ankles. Mokuba chose that moment to push open the door with his hip, a tray of food balanced across his hands.

"Poison! Poison dripping into my arm!" Yugi cried out as he started to thrash against the hands restraining him. Mokuba had enough presence of mind to put the tray on the desk by the door before approaching Yugi's bed in a stunned sort of daze.

"Mokuba. You don't need to see this. Go away," Seto told him, grimly holding Yugi down.

"I should see it," Mokuba whispered. "He wouldn't be like this if he hadn't..."

"This -- is not -- your fault. It's the damned hospital..." Seto ground out. "And that damned man who kidnapped you... And those damned assholes on the Board of Directors..."

Mokuba reached up to squeeze Seto's arm. "If it's not my fault, then let me stay. So I can help my friend, too."

"Poison! Dripping... Help me! Stop it from getting into me, again!" Yugi raved.

"Yugi! It's okay! You're okay. There's no poison here..." Mokuba leaned over and told him intently.

"No... poison?" Yugi asked. "Mokuba? You're--you're okay?" Yugi blinked up, trying to focus on Mokuba's face.

"I'm okay, Yugi. You and Seto got there in time. I didn't get hurt... You did. But, you'll be okay."

"Mokuba's okay..." Yugi repeated. "Mokuba's okay..." His eyes closed and he eased into unconsciousness again.

"Huh. I think Mutou might be coming out of it. Finally."

Mokuba shot an indulgently reproving glare at his older brother. "I brought food. You and Mr. Larson should eat something."

-- -- -- --

Awareness crept slowly into his mind. A strange sort of unsettledness made him aware that some measure of time had passed, unmarked by him. Vague, phantasmagoric memories pushed at his mind, teasing him with lurid images and imperfectly recalled nightmares. A distressing lassitude weighed him down, as if he were suddenly more susceptible to the pull of gravity than usual. He'd only felt such a lack of energy once -- when he was recovering from chickenpox, but he didn't feel itchy. His hands throbbed and ached with dull pain. A spike of more intense pain snaked across his right palm.

_I've been sick? _ his mind questioned. The sense of missing time worried him, as did the baleful presence of looming nightmares. Nightmares in which people looked down at him, held him down, tied him down, threatened him with knives, burned his hands, poisoned him. He shook his head against these dark fancies. Nightmares. Those had to be nightmares, not memories of true events. _Well, yeah,_ his mind admitted. _But they really seemed real -- at the time._

Oh. His mind was finally quiet, and consciously his own, not rocketing off into a frightening land of hallucinations under the tenuous control of his subconscious. That was why he felt so weak, and as if he'd lost a chunk of time. He'd been... Well, he'd been out of his head, for a while. That would explain the strange nightmare-memories. What happened?

It all came rushing back. The odd, unsettling tingle deep in his mind that wouldn't let him sleep however many days ago it was. Giving up on trying to sleep, padding over to his desk, firing up his laptop, mindlessly playing a few hands of solitaire when his chat window remained a friendless, empty wasteland; opening his personal project document, staring blankly at the screen -- too tired to add anything coherent, and finally closing it unchanged again. Belatedly realizing he hadn't looked at the Internet news feeds since coming home from work to find out what was up in the world. With his Grandpa out of the country, he tried to at least look at the news headlines in the morning before heading out to work, and once before he went to sleep each night.

_**Sources claim Mokuba Kaiba (13), brother to Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corporation, has been kidnapped.**__ Substantial reward offered for any information leading to ..._

The local headline had resolved the vague tingle into a nearly-painful, clawing insistence to _do_ something, and a psychically clear burst of an image against his mind's eye. He recalled that the headline and the computer screen in front of him faded into transparency. Then, the color had leeched out of his vision. Suddenly thrust into a strange world of black and white, Yugi had gasped as new images swam before his eyes. A man raised his arm to strike at a child with bound arms. The prideful grunt of the boy, denying his captor the satisfaction of crying out at the pain. A defiant, ''My brother will find me, and then you'll pay!"

His strained attempt to recall more shattered as his stomach gurgled unhappily. He was so suddenly aware of internal emptiness that he swore the sound actually _echoed_. His eyes snapped open in surprise.

Well, that was why his hands felt weird. Both were completely swathed in layers of gauzy cotton. A glance to each side showed he was in a hospital bed with both side-rails up. He was no interior decorator, much less of facilities like hospitals, but the fine-grained, light-toned wood paneling seemed quite at odds with the utilitarian bed. An elegant writing desk next to the door also seemed 'wrong' -- rather, the bed he was in seemed wrong for the rest of tastefully understated, yet opulent room. A huge window caught his eye next -- no, the view through the window pulled his attention. A perfectly manicured park spread before his surprised gaze. None of the hospitals in Domino abutted the park. Where the heck was he?

The door opened quietly. Much to Yugi's astonishment, Seto Kaiba stood there, holding a tray in his hands, his supercilious gaze sweeping across him.

"You're awake, finally," Kaiba said. Yugi shrugged, not knowing how to answer such an obvious observation. "Hmph."

Kaiba placed the tray on the handy desk, and crossed the room to loom over the bed. He reached down, over Yugi's head, and slid a small rotating table, attached to the hospital bed, to a place next to the bed.

"You've been out of it for two days," Kaiba noted as he retrieved the tray and placed it on the table between them.

Kaiba? Why was Seto Kaiba _here_? More memories came back in a flood.

"Mokuba?" Yugi managed to croak out. His tongue felt like it was twice its normal size, and dry as a desert.

"He's okay. A damn sight better than you, Mutou." Yugi thought he caught a hint of something vulnerable in Kaiba's eyes before the expression opaqued into his cool, unreadable gaze again.

"Why am I -- here?" Yugi lifted his bandaged hands helplessly to indicate his total lack of understanding. "Where are we?"

Kaiba didn't answer for a moment, intent on offering Yugi the business end of a straw until Yugi drank some of the water.

"Chessex Memorial was screwing you. After the paramedics arrived, Roland accompanied you there, to make certain you were admitted quickly and given the best possible care..."

"My insurance doesn't cover that hospital..." Yugi shook his head.

Kaiba glared, a spoonful of something that smelled marvelous en route to Yugi's mouth when Yugi had moved. Meekly, Yugi remained still and permitted the spoon to advance into range.

"My money _does_." Kaiba told him, finally answering Yugi's comment now that Yugi was cooperating. "You were supposed to have a private room, not share a double. The fact that you were sedated and restrained was distressing to -- Mokuba. It seemed best to bring you here, where my personal doctor could tend to your recovery. I assure you, everything he needs to treat you is available to him here."

"I'm not worried about that," Yugi said before Kaiba effectively stopped any further conversation with another generous spoonful of the delicious beef and barley soup. Strangely enough, it was exactly what Yugi wanted.

The steady and very matter of fact way Kaiba offered the thick, hearty soup defused any potential for embarrassment. Well, most of it. Kaiba maintained silence for several minutes until Yugi had, with his assistance, emptied the entire bowl of soup.

"Uhm... Thank you. For looking out for me."

Kaiba stood and damn-near glared down at him. "You're an idiot." He turned on his heel and put the empty bowl on the desk. He returned to the bedside with the cup of water, leaning down to place it on the table and swivel the straw to within easy reach of Yugi's mouth.

It was sudden. It was violent. Yugi had absolutely no warning, and no way to stop it. His stomach went from being quietly content and pleasantly happy with the warm, savory soup to massive, irresistible upheaval at the mere thought of this alien substance 'food'. One mortifying and abject moment later, Kaiba was liberally 'decorated' with the evidence of Yugi's trenchantly unhappy and swiftly voided stomach.

With an incredulous, actinic blue-eyed stare, Kaiba glared at Yugi for a full minute before slowly turning and walking from the room.

Yugi stared after him miserably, wanting to scrub at his suddenly stinging eyes. He sighed, looking down at his bandaged hands, and settled for slamming his head back into the pillow, silently cursing in every language he knew.


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

Dr. Karasu looked up as Kaiba exited the room, and burst into laughter.

"Mutou threw up on me!"

"I can see that!" The doctor calmed at Kaiba's thunderous expression. "It's not that poor boy's fault. You're an idiot. What on earth possessed you to bring him such solid food?" Dr. Karasu eyed the discernible chunks of beef and vegetable dripping down the front of Kaiba's clothes.

Kaiba bristled. "He hadn't eaten for several days..."

Dr. Karasu nodded, damping his amusement down even further. "Add that to the fact he's just been through a drug allergy ordeal and solid food is the last thing he can cope with right now. He's going to have to be weaned back onto solid food. I'm sure vomiting on you was the last thing on Mr. Mutou's list of 'things to do, today'."

Kaiba stopped scowling and sighed, accepting that it hadn't been Yugi's fault.

"Go, get cleaned up while I see to my patient. If you would be so helpful, please ask someone from the kitchen to bring a cup of clear broth. I can give you an update of his condition in about an hour. I'll page you before I leave."

Kaiba nodded and turned to walk away. He didn't notice the rueful, discreetly sympathetic shake of the doctor's head, or the fond and indulgent smile Dr. Karasu beamed at him behind his back.

-- -- -- --

Yugi looked up as the door opened. Adding to his embarrassment and general misery at the 'soup incident', the discomfort in his hands was smoothly and swiftly advancing up the pain scale. He was relieved that it wasn't Seto Kaiba returning. A middle-aged man in a well-tailored business suit closed the door behind himself. "I am happy to see you awake and aware, Mr. Mutou. I am Dr. Karasu. Seto Kaiba has retained my services on your behalf."

Yugi nodded. To his surprise the doctor removed his suit jacket and placed it carefully on the back of the chair. He crossed the room to a closet artfully concealed among the wood paneling of the room. Yugi hadn't even realized it was there until the doctor opened the door, retrieved a white coat, put it on, then washed his hands in a sink behind the door, just out of Yugi's sight.

"Let's get you cleaned up from Mr. Kaiba's well-intentioned, but completely ill-advised, attempt to feed you." The doctor winked at Yugi, who found a smile creeping across his face despite himself.

"Good! There's no reason for you to be so grim!"

Yugi didn't want to argue with the nice doctor, but he felt distressingly weak. The few moments of sitting on the bed with his legs dangling over one side, then the other, while the doctor stripped and remade the bed more or less under him wiped out his energy. He could barely remain sitting up while the doctor gently whisked pleasantly fresh-scented wipes across his face, neck, chest, back, and upper arms before helping him into a clean hospital gown. Tears did spring to his eyes when the doctor removed the bandages on his left hand to evaluate how his wounds were healing and change the dressing. Noticing his stillness, the doctor shot a swift glance into Yugi's face, turned up his own wrist, and looked at his watch.

"Forgive me," Dr. Karasu murmured. He placed Yugi's rebandaged hand down on the bed, darted to the closet, unlocked a cabinet set inside and withdrew a bottle and a syringe. He measured a dose and injected it into the med-port on the catheter in Yugi's elbow. "I had been unavoidably detained at my office today, so this dose is late. Next time, speak up, man!" The doctor mock-glared at Yugi before returning the bottle to the cabinet, locking it behind him, and disposing of the syringe. By the time the doctor had finished donning a new pair of gloves, examining Yugi's right hand, and bandaging it again, the pain had settled back to a dull, endurable background ache.

"Dr. Karasu -- what is going on?" Yugi finally asked.

"Well, Mr. Mutou..."

"Please, call me Yugi."

"Very well, then you must call me Dr. K -- like Seto and Mokuba do," Dr. Karasu smoothly responded. "Yugi, three days ago you stopped a knife attack on Mokuba, who couldn't have defended himself from harm if you had not acted. You took the edge of the blade across both palms, the right more than the left. Surgery was required on both hands, but there was minimal, if any, nerve damage. There is no reason to suspect you will not regain full use of both your hands -- as long as you follow your doctor's orders." Dr. Karasu cocked a thumb back at himself.

"What happened to bring me here? And, uhm, where is here?" Yugi asked.

The corners of Dr. Karasu's eyes crinkled as he grinned. "You are in the infirmary, a 'hospital' room designed to my specifications in the guest quarters of the Kaiba Mansion."

Yugi gasped. "That doesn't make any sense!"

The doctor reached over and placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder in a gesture meant to soothe. "It makes perfect sense. You saved Mokuba. You had an adverse reaction to one of the drugs they used for you at the hospital post-surgery. It seemed best to all concerned to relocate you here, for more individual care than what a typical hospital can provide."

Yugi turned that over in his mind. The answer seemed rather evasive under the surface, somehow...

"Was I..." He carefully started again. "If I were so inclined would they be cause for me to pursue legal action against the hospital?"

Dr. Karasu's eyes sparked appreciation for Yugi's quick mind. "People have pursued cases for the very same reason -- medicine dosing errors -- and won."

"But...?"

"Your -- discharge was -- not typical. A scrutinizing look could be -- inconvenient to the one who got you out of there and brought you here."

"Kaiba mentioned Mokuba being distressed..." Yugi began. The corners of the doctor's eyes crinkled in amusement again, as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"He would." Dr. Karasu patted Yugi's knee under the blanket. Yugi replayed a bit of that conversation in his mind. Kaiba had said, _'It seemed best to bring you here',_ not _'have you brought here'. _So, it had been Kaiba himself -- not Mokuba -- who had been distressed at how the hospital had treated him. "On the surface the paperwork holds up. I made sure of that," the doctor continued.

"So, you'd be..." Yugi considered. He wasn't litigious by nature. He was well-cared for now, and expected to recover fully from his initial injuries and the treatment after. "Would other patients be endangered the same way if I just ignored it?"

"I had a word in the ear of a colleague in the hospital, just to alert him to the medicine dosing mishap that knocked you on your ass. I'm sure an internal review will prevent it from being a problem, at least as well as a high-profile lawsuit would."

High-profile. That settled it for Yugi. He wasn't about to put Kaiba into an uncomfortable position after all he'd done for Yugi. While he'd been thinking, the doctor had stood up from his bed, leaned over, retrieved a bag nearly full of liquid from under the bed, and walked over to the closet again. Sounds of splashing alerted Yugi to the fact the doctor was using the sink, again. When the doctor walked back with the now-empty bag, Yugi suddenly realized why he hadn't needed to get up and relieve himself. He flushed red at that realization.

"Oh, stop that," the doctor smiled at him. "Until you have the use of at least one of your hands back, this preserves comfort and dignity for all involved. Seto objected violently to Mr. Larson -- the nurse I retained for your care -- about as violently as your stomach objected to solid food." Dr. Karasu winked at him. "And, he told me in no uncertain terms to not bother finding another nurse to replace him -- that he and Mokuba are fully capable of taking care of you when I'm not here. I don't think Seto thought that through. I doubt any of you would be comfortable with..."

"Hell, no!" Yugi exclaimed before his mind could fully envision the thought. Dr. Karasu chuckled as he walked over to the out-of-sight sink and thoroughly washed his hands.

"So, I will stop by a few times each day for the next few days to check on you, assess your pain management, healing, as well as tend to," he nodded down toward the now discreetly out-of-sight catheter bag as he dried his hands. "I think before I leave tonight we can dispense with this for you." He tapped the IV bag. "That will help keep that," again the nod toward the floor, "from becoming an obvious, or troublesome, problem."

-- -- -- --

_That wasn't the first time I've been thrown up on,_ Kaiba thought to himself as he towel-dried his hair. _Probably not the last,_ he added, recalling a few of Mokuba's bouts with childhood illnesses. Mokuba didn't get sick often, but when he did it always seemed to attack his stomach. There was a reason Kaiba was practiced at spoon-feeding soup.

_Helping Yugi through his recovery is the least I can do for his 'finding' Mokuba for me,_ Kaiba told himself, regarding his image seriously in the mirror as he combed his hair into its usual, meticulous shape. _Even if I do get vomited on again. _He grimaced at his reflection at that thought.

"Where's Mokuba?" Kaiba asked Roland as he closed the door of his personal suite behind him. Roland fell into step with a practiced ease as the younger man walked toward the common areas of the mansion.

"I suspect he is in Mr. Mutou's room. I took the liberty of stopping by Mr. Mutou's house today to retrieve some clothes, per Dr. Karasu's suggestion."

Kaiba stopped short, dismay momentarily clouding his face. "Mutou -- he has to have a job, too. I hadn't thought of that."

Roland cleared his throat to draw Kaiba's attention. "I also stopped by Cynucron Power's accounting department to explain Mr. Mutou's current absence."

Kaiba permitted his relief to lighten his expression to just short of a smile. Roland proved his value as an aide in quiet and unexpected ways -- as well as fulfilling his primary duty as Seto's personal bodyguard. "How did that go?"

"Given Mr. Mutou's previous reliability and his value to the company, they -- reinstated his employ."

"I see." This was why Kaiba found Roland to be so invaluable. Not only had the man proven his loyalty as a bodyguard, to both himself and Mokuba, but he had a brain to back up his brawn, too. He hadn't even thought about how Yugi's actions on Mokuba's behalf, and his prolonged absence, would affect his life. For all he knew Yugi was so focused on recovering that he hadn't considered it. So, Yugi had become an accountant after high school. Kaiba dimly recalled that Yugi had quietly excelled in math.

Roland paced his last two steps a shade quicker than Kaiba's to reach for the door to Yugi's room and open it. "Thank you, Roland," Kaiba said with quiet emphasis. Roland's lips turned up in the merest hint of a smile, recognizing that his employer was thanking him for more than holding the door for him. Kaiba indicated with a distinctively blank stare that Roland's continued presence was not required at this time. The bodyguard bowed slightly, held the door while Kaiba entered the room, then closed it behind him.

-- -- -- --

_Great. Just great. What can I say to really apologize for what happened?_ Yugi's mind unhelpfully commenced gibbering in a corner of his brain. It didn't help at all that Kaiba loomed over him long before he neared the bed. The blank expression on Kaiba's face didn't help Yugi's composure at all either. Did the man even know how to smile? Or would his face split into pieces if he tried? As before, Kaiba sat in the chair nearest the bed, crossed his ankles, then his arms and more or less glared at Yugi.

"So, uhm... Nice weather we're having." Yugi fished for a topic. A safe topic. Something to talk about, something non-threatening -- anything to make Kaiba stop staring at him with that disconcertingly neutral intensity. Yugi felt like a bug -- like a specimen in a jar under that gaze.

"You've stayed in this room for the past day, and unconscious the two days prior. So, what are you commenting on, Mutou? The climate control in my mansion?" Kaiba's reply almost sneered.

They'd been classmates in high school -- not that Kaiba interacted with him, or with anyone for that matter. Kaiba never seemed to pay any sort of attention to anyone around him, barely acknowledging the existence of even the teachers. Sometimes he'd be absent for weeks on end. He took every single quiz, test, and exam, excelling in his marks with what appeared to be nonchalant, effortless ease. He didn't attend the graduation. A man in a black suit gathered Kaiba's diploma when his name had been called.

"I-I'm..." Yugi stammered.

"The 'soup incident' is behind us. Bringing it up would be unwise in the circumstances," Kaiba warned with a rather dramatic flash of his eyes. It was really too bad that his unfortunate choice in words triggered Yugi's sense of the absurd.

"Understood. I'll do my best to not bring it up again," Yugi couldn't help but grin as he echoed Kaiba's words.

Kaiba glared at him, but his lips twitched.

"How's Mokuba doing?" Yugi suddenly asked. Concern for Mokuba had gotten him into this situation, after all. The accord that had grown between him and Kaiba while they had been trying to get to Mokuba was a direct result of that concern.

"He was just here. You know as well as I do," Kaiba replied.

"No, not really. Mokuba would..." Mentioning that Mokuba would dissemble might not be a wise thing to note to Mokuba's protective older brother. "He wouldn't want me to feel bad, so I'm sure he'd not want to hurt my feelings, by... That is..."

"Talked yourself into a corner, huh?" Kaiba relented. "Mokuba would hide his true condition to keep you from being upset by it. I would hide his true condition if I thought it was necessary. It's not. He's fine. Dr. K -- that is, Dr. Karasu has given him a clean bill of health."

"Yeah, but..." How to suggest it wasn't physical damage Yugi was worried about? Mokuba was a tough kid, close to not being a 'kid' anymore, but there was damage that was obvious, and damage that wasn't. Not that Kaiba would really understand that.

"Not that it's any of your business..." Kaiba began. His gaze flicked to where Yugi's bandaged hands rested on his lap. "Though I suppose you've paid a high enough price to make it your business. He's sleeping through the night with no nightmares, his attitude is the same as it was before he was kidnapped, he's eating well. Mokuba is fine. He's more concerned about you than he is for himself, but that's my little brother for you." Kaiba shrugged in a 'what are you going to do?' sort of way.

Yugi smiled. Mokuba was a good kid. Before he could think of some way to frame the sentiment and articulate it, a single knock turned their attention to the door as Roland entered bearing a tray.

"Broth for Mr. Mutou," Roland stated, bringing it to the hospital bed. Yugi shifted uncomfortably on the bed. "Sir, if you would allow..."

Kaiba stood abruptly, but didn't step away from the chair as Roland obviously expected. He swiveled the table attached to the bed into place again. "Leave the tray, Roland." The aide shot a carefully neutral expression Kaiba's way before nodding, placing the tray on the table, and closing the door behind himself as he left the room.

"Kaiba..." Yugi began in protest when Kaiba lifted the cover from the tray.

"I know I've decided you'd have only the best, for what you did for Mokuba, but don't you think throwing up on _me _was taking it a bit far, Mutou?" Kaiba interrupted as he placed a napkin around Yugi's neck and opened another one across his injured, still-bandaged hands where they rested in his lap. "Don't be tedious and repeat that."

"I'm so sorr--..." Yugi tried to apologize, again. Kaiba stopped him, again.

"It's my own fault, Dr. K., that is Dr. Karasu, tells me, for giving you solid food after you hadn't eaten for several days. You are on clear liquids to accustom your stomach to this whole concept of 'eating' again." Kaiba told him, matter of factly picking up the spoon like before. "Oh, kindly use this if you should feel the urge to hurl again," Kaiba placed a plastic kidney pan on the table edge nearest to Yugi. "That is, unless I should have it gold-plated to measure up to your high standards?" Kaiba raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

Realizing that Kaiba was trying to joke with him, Yugi grinned. "No, I think silver-plate would suffice." Kaiba's blue eyes stared blankly into his for a long stunned moment. One groan and an elaborate eye-roll later, Kaiba was rather expertly feeding the clear broth to Yugi.

_He's a prickly sort of jerk, _Yugi thought to himself. _But, a nice sort of prickly jerk,_ he added.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Yugi moped as he turned the pages of his sketch book two days later. He was bored. Dr. Karasu had already stopped by once today, but he'd been in a hurry to get to his office and hadn't been able to chat. Mokuba had classes to attend. Presumably, Kaiba was at work. Yugi never watched much television in the first place, and turning the tv on for only a couple of minutes had confirmed that daytime programming was dreadful. There were images swimming before his mind's eye that he wanted to sketch, but...

He closed the book with a sigh, and held his hands, palms up, in front of him. The right one was still a shapeless mass of white gauze. The left appeared mostly like a hand again. Dr. Karasu had deemed it healed enough to not require the complete, swaddling immobility of his right. Instead, a substantial dressing crossed his palm but left his thumb and fingers free. Yugi's relief at being free from the catheter and thus, the bed, had been immense. The doctor had thoughtfully provided several large gloves Yugi could slip on over his left hand, bandages and all, when he had to respond to calls of nature. He'd also recommended some light stretching exercises to keep the scar tissue from healing too tightly and limiting Yugi's flexibility. Yugi ran a series of these exercises absently before opening his sketch book, again.

"Hmmm." Yugi hopped off the bed, padded across the room, and plopped his book down on the desk. He noticed a cup holding several writing instruments, and reached with his useless right hand for a tempting pencil before sighing and grasping it with his left.

Several minutes later, a page was full of scribbles that made Yugi wince, as they bore little resemblance to the sleek, lethal beauty of the eerily floating blades of his drug-toned dreams. He was certain they would jog his memory when he was able to draw again with his handed hand, and for now, that sufficed. He bent diligently to his task, using his non-preferred left hand to scribble other images across many pages of his sketch book.

"What's that?" a cheerful voice by his elbow startled him some time later. Yugi whipped his head around to notice Mokuba leaning over the desk and staring at the drawing he'd just finished. "It looks like a opossum getting run over."

Yugi snickered. "Almost. That's Kuriboh. He's a weak monster, but he blows up on contact with other monsters."

"Cool!" Mokuba exclaimed. "But, it's kinda not as good as the drawings you did before," Mokuba colored. "Oh, your hand is hurt, that's why."

Yugi put the pencil down and realized his hand was aching a little. He rubbed his palm lightly against his knee, and absently ran through the hand exercises to ease the ache. "Yeah, a little, but it's mostly because I'm right-handed." He held up his white-wrapped club of a right hand. "Hopefully, these scribbles will remind me of what I was trying to draw when my hands are better."

"Yugi..." Mokuba's eyes were troubled. Yugi smiled, recognizing in himself the urge to turn aside the apology the same way Kaiba had avoided his apology a couple of days ago. "I'm sorry you got hurt."

"It's not your fault," Yugi said.

"But--"

"For whatever reason, it was important that I help you, otherwise, I wouldn't have had the visions you were in trouble." Quite unlike his brother, Mokuba was willing to accept that Yugi had visions, so he nodded.

"But, why? Why would you have visions about me?"

Yugi reached out and patted Mokuba's shoulder with his well-padded right hand. "Because you needed help," he replied simply. "Who knows? Maybe we were destined to become friends."

A snort surprised both of them. They turned as one and looked at the doorway where Kaiba leaned against the door jam. His arms were crossed and a faint scowl darkened his expression. "Stop filling Mokuba's head with that nonsense."

"It's not..." Mokuba began.

"Homework. Now." Kaiba commanded. Wearing a scowl of his own, Mokuba responded to the icy command of Kaiba's tone of voice. Before he dragged himself with obvious reluctance through the door, he turned and smiled at Yugi.

"Whatever the reason, I'm glad you found me, and that we are friends!" Mokuba declared brightly, before darting away at Kaiba's start of surprise. Yugi couldn't completely suppress his laugh at Mokuba's impishness.

Kaiba rolled his eyes and stalked fully into the room. Yugi's heart thumped painfully until he managed to awkwardly close the cover of his sketchbook over his scribblings. The last thing he needed was Kaiba's acid comments about...

Completely ignoring the sketch book and Yugi's panic about it, Kaiba cleared his throat. "I would appreciate it if you would not talk about anything dealing with how you came to know that Mokuba was in trouble."

"It's not nonsense," Yugi protested. Kaiba just stared at him. "Fine. I won't mention it." Because he was looking for it, Yugi noticed the easing in Kaiba's bearing with his acquiescence.

"Is there any reason you spent the whole day in the infirmary? Dr. K. tells me you are free to 'wander about', now," Kaiba asked. Yugi inferred from the frown on Kaiba's face that he hadn't been aware of why Yugi had been stuck in the infirmary until Dr. Karasu had told him about it.

"I--I wasn't sure where I could go... That is where I was permitted..."

Kaiba sighed. "You're a guest, Mutou. Except for the private quarters, you can wander wherever you want in the mansion."

_It would have been nice if Kaiba'd told me that earlier, _Yugi thought sourly.

"Let me get out of this straight-jacket and handle a few things that have come up, and I'll give you the grand tour," Kaiba offered suddenly. He did appear more daunting than usual in a severely conservative business suit.

"I hate the ties most of all," Yugi offered. "Like I'm slowly strangling all day long!"

"And they serve no useful purpose," Kaiba unexpectedly agreed.

Yugi grinned at him. "So, loosen it already!"

Kaiba blinked at him before he did just that. Yugi waved a theatrically imperious hand. "Go, change. You know where to find me." Kaiba snorted, and nearly smiled before remembering himself, singeing Yugi lightly with a half-hearted glared instead, and leaving the room.

_Man, is he ever wound tight!_ Yugi thought to himself as he put his sketch book away. He spent a few futile minutes fighting to pull a comb through his hair with his left hand before giving it up as a lost cause. His hair had grown into an unruly mess. The strange henna tone that was his current favorite color was made all the more striking with the bleached blond bangs he'd adopted in solidarity with one of his work friends after she'd been reamed for an unorthodox hairstyle. His hair had always been a completely unmanageable texture, thanks in large part to the exuberant genes of his grandfather's side of the family -- if his grandfather's appearance was any indication. Yugi normally gelled his hair into submission, but that wasn't an option with only half of one hand working.

To Yugi's faint relief, both Kaiba brothers appeared at the door of his room for his 'grand tour' of the mansion. It really was a mansion, even boasting a small, but complete, secondary kitchen on the third floor, large, somewhat impersonal rooms that reminded Yugi of conference rooms at work, a jaw-droppingly amazing game room, and several media rooms that were better stocked than the video rental store Yugi went out of his way to be a member of.

"Tristan would give his eyeteeth to see this," Yugi muttered upon seeing the main library.

"Tristan?" Mokuba asked.

"Tristan Taylor. He was our classmate... Uh, that is he was in the same grade I was," Yugi finished, at Kaiba's sudden glare.

"Didn't Taylor beat you up in first year?" Kaiba asked. Yugi bristled. _Yeah, way to go, remind me of unpleasant things best left in the past, you insensitive jerk!_ "Yes, but we are friends, now. I prefer not to think of..."

Mokuba's hand crept into his left one. Only then did Yugi realize he'd been trying to make a fist with it. He glanced at Mokuba's face and caught a conspiratorial wink. "Seto won't let anyone beat you up again, will you big brother?" Mokuba's tone was high, light, and just shy of wheedling. Yugi carefully plastered one of Kaiba's own nearly scowling, neutral expressions on his face before Kaiba could catch his grin at Mokuba's impudence.

"Hmph."

"Since you saved me, and are my friend, and all," Mokuba continued disingenuously. Kaiba growled and stalked toward the door, but Mokuba's happy smile and quick, gentle squeeze told Yugi that's what Mokuba expected.

"There's one more room in this wing..." Kaiba's voice floated back toward them as he strode impatiently down the hallway.

"Ah!" Mokuba exclaimed before his voice dropped into a low tone just above a whisper. "I don't think he meant to show you this room." Mokuba grinned. "He really likes you, Yugi! Don't let his grumbly ways make you think otherwise!" And, with this advice, Mokuba abandoned Yugi's hand and raced down the hallway after his brother to lean heavily into his side, rather blatantly trying to force Kaiba to veer and crash into the wall. Kaiba reached over and tousled his little brother's hair.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Yup," Mokuba grinned up at him. "It's a cool room, Yugi should get to see it." Kaiba stared down at him for a long moment.

"Whatever."

Still, as Yugi approached, Kaiba stared at him almost as if he were still weighing the decision. Finally, he opened the door and gestured Yugi to precede him with ironic courtesy.

Dragons. Dragons everywhere -- swooping from the ceiling on nearly-invisible wire, twisting around the legs of an overstuffed chair, peeking over the tops of books on bookcases, embossed upon the spines of those books, gathering in multi-toned flights of color in several subtly-lit display cases...

"Wow!" Yugi noticed an impressively large and intricately carved dragon fashioned from jade near his ankle. It was apparent from its pose and position that it was guarding the entryway from unwanted intrusions. "This is amazing!"

Per usual, Kaiba didn't smile at Yugi's earnest compliment, but the expression in his eyes lightened at Yugi's obvious admiration.

"Can you tell that big brother kinda-sorta likes dragons?" Mokuba teased.

"I do, too," Yugi claimed. "Haven't I shown you my Darkfire Dragon yet? Oh!" He clapped his hands over his mouth.

Kaiba affected not to have heard, electing to walk toward one of the furthest display cases and lean over to peer more closely at the ceramic dragons gathered within.

"Show me later," Mokuba whispered. "Let me show you the dragon Seto named for me.," he finished aloud.

Yugi followed Mokuba to a display case on the other side of the room. Mokuba pointed out a diminutive dragon, made of lapis lazuli. The dragon had been skillfully carved in a flattened, but fierce pose, sort of like how a cat appears when scared but willing to fight. In front of the little blue dragon, not hovering, but certainly set in a position meant to shield, a white stone dragon spread its wings. It appeared to be stretching forth its neck forever uttering a bugling cry of defiance into the face of a massive, but ill-formed, dully gleaming nearly dragon-shaped lump. Yugi leaned forward, to look more closely at the detail of the two larger dragons. The white stone one had a rather distinctively undragonlike-shape to its head, and two small but perfectly faceted sapphires for eyes. The menacing, tarnished dragon bore evilly gleaming rubies for its eyes. The powerful vignette unsettled Yugi deeply, and he had no idea why.

"The white dragon is carved from a single piece of alabaster, and his enemy is shaped from pyrite -- fool's gold," Kaiba's dry voice behind him made Yugi jump.

"Your dragon makes me think of a kitten, Mokuba," Yugi said. "Very fierce, and very -- cute." Mokuba bristled. "I said fierce, too!" Yugi protested.

"It _is_ cute," Kaiba unexpectedly jumped to Yugi's aid. "As Mokuba was when I first got it." Kaiba sighed. "Too bad he grew up to be..."

"HEY!" Mokuba protested, cutting him off. Kaiba smiled. Yugi considered dropping his jaw, but decided not to. _My, my! Kaiba knows how to smile?!_

"We've gawked at the dragons enough. Dinner should be ready shortly," Kaiba's stern, frosty voice was totally belied by his continued smile.

"Aw, Seto!"

"We'll eat in the small dining room. Run along and wash up for dinner."

Yugi noticed that Kaiba closed, but didn't lock, the door to his dragon room. He wondered about that, as the room was obviously very important to Kaiba, then realized there was no reason he would lock the door. He was in his own home, after all.

-- -- -- --

Yugi wanted to clear a space in front of himself, set the impressive, silver-wrought utensils safely to one side, push the elegant china plate toward the center of the table out of the danger-zone, and pound his head into the table. Or something.

Dinner this evening in the Kaiba mansion was a luxury Yugi had never had a chance to partake of before. Hamburgers were one of his favorite foods of all time -- but that was because he could afford hamburgers. The meal served to him that evening was Kobe steak, cooked in a western style and done to a doneness, if the aroma was any sort of indication. Yugi could practically taste the legendary steak with his hungry eyes -- but that was all he could do. The more-than-generous serving had been presented to him as a single slab of unmanageably out-of-reach tantalizing goodness. The sides of au gratin potatoes and green beans with slivered almonds he was able to scarf down, even using the awkward western fork in his left hand, but the steak -- that ultimate paragon of beer-fed Kobe goodness -- was utterly beyond him. There was no way, no matter how sharp the knife, he could cut it into pieces on his own with his fully bandaged right hand. Briefly he considered stabbing his fork deep into the maddenly mouth-watering steak and nibbling on the edges, as if it were some sort of beefy lollipop, but...

"Yugi, what do you think of the steak? Isn't it great?" Mokuba asked brightly. Yugi couldn't help but shoot a narrow-eyed glare of displeasure toward the tactless boy -- an action which earned him Kaiba's suddenly focused attention and a glare of his own. Kaiba dropped Yugi's frustrated gaze long enough to flick a glance down into Yugi's plate, and immediately discerned the problem. The superior, amused look Kaiba shot at him made Yugi want to punch the expression right off of Kaiba's face.

"I would never had thought you were so uselessly macho, Mutou," Kaiba said. He rose from his spot at the table, walked around to Yugi's place, snatched the fork from Yugi's left hand, picked up the knife and proceeded to cut the steak into bite-sized pieces. "When you need help, ask for it, you idiot."

Yugi fumed. It wasn't his fault his hands were injured. Well, yes, it was, but... How dare Kaiba behave like such a superior jerk -- treating him like a child, younger even than Mokuba!? Why did everyone insist on doing that to him? Ever since grade school, he had to endure such mortifying scenes. Teachers would all but put his coat on him in winter, as if his short stature made him some sort of moron who didn't have the sense to wear a coat when it was cold without prompting. _I'm short, not a child, dammit! Why can't anyone see the difference?_

Kaiba looked down at him with a puzzled expression in his eyes. "I don't think you're a child," he said. "You're just inordinately short."

Yugi hadn't realized he'd been driven to utter the last part of his frustrated complaint aloud. Unfortunately, Kaiba went on. "I wouldn't have thought you were susceptible to macho bullshit, though. You disappoint me, Mutou. There's nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it. Even Mokuba -- an actual child -- knows that." His task completed, Kaiba returned to his place.

"I'd rather be -- compact, like I am -- than freakishly tall -- like certain supercilious CEOs of certain companies," Yugi muttered. Kaiba's hand, halfway to his mouth with a piece of steak, froze.

Mokuba giggled. Kaiba finished taking his his bite. "Eat your steak, Mutou," he mumbled around his mouthful of food. Mokuba giggled again.

As Yugi put the first morsel of tender, savory perfection in his mouth and considered dying from total, transcendent, carnivore bliss, he could have sworn that one of Kaiba's eyelids twitched downward in what one might, if one were generous, term a wink of a conspiratorial nature.

_Time enough to try to figure out stupid-Kaiba, later, _Yugi's mind informed him in a severe, no-nonsense tone. _Steak! S-T-E-A-K! Steakity, steak, steak, STEAK! We have steak! Nothing else is important right now!_


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

Maybe it had been all the exertion. Even though his hand was still bandaged, Yugi hadn't been able to help trying to reach and do things with his right hand throughout the day. It hurt, a little, a dull throbbing ache that spiked into active stabs of shooting pain as if to remind him that it was entirely unhappy. It took a little while, but Yugi had finally been able to fall asleep.

In his dreaming mind's eye, he saw Kaiba's dragons again -- the little blue kitten-dragon, the protective white sapphire-eyed dragon, and the menacing, malformed, ruby-eyed dragon. In the weirdly logical way of dreams, the gemstone dragons morphed into real ones. Yugi's awareness deepened as his dreaming self watched the dull gold dragon menace the little blue one, and the white dragon interpose itself...

No. Not itself. _Himself._ Yugi's gift -- his psychic sense -- caught hold of the truth revealed by the gemstone dragons, somehow divining it from the emotional ether and decoding it for Yugi's benefit. A richly appointed office formed from the stuff of dreams. The dragons in his dreaming mind morphed again. In the way of dreams he was not only witnessing the actions, but feeling the emotions, of those he watched.

A small child played with his cars in his favorite place for playing with cars. This office had the best landscape upon which to play Driving On (or Off, as the whim carried him) A Cliff, Death-Drop Racers, and Long Way 'Round, since the dark desk was so massive and had such interesting knobbly little bits set into the wood. He enjoyed his play, but a taut sort of awareness seeped into his every motion. A deep, rumbling voice alerted him that Father was home. Father would be highly upset to find him here, for Father did not want him in his office. Father didn't understand the lure of his desk for the games the lonely young boy was forced to play, as his older brother was always so busy studying that he couldn't play with him anymore. The child, newly five years old, gathered his cars swiftly, shoving them into his pockets and prepared to dart from the office before he was discovered. He didn't mean to disobey Father, it was just...

His new car--the one big brother had given him on his birthday just six days ago! Where was it? He had to find it! Frantically, he retraced his steps and actions in the forbidden office, but still could not find his favorite car. He had to get out before...!

Too late! The door opened and Father's form filled the entire doorway. Cold, grey eyes flashed fury at the child.

"I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me again, Mokuba," Father said in a soft, low tone. Mokuba shook. When Father talked so softly, it meant he was very angry.

"I-I'm sorry, Father! I won't do it again! I promise!" Mokuba's voice diminished to a terrified whisper as Father stepped closer. Father undid the buttons holding his suit jacket closed. With a terrible sort of slowness he undid the buckle and deliberately slid the stout leather length of his belt through the belt loops of his trousers.

"No, Father, no! Please, don't!" Mokuba whimpered.

Father smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile at all. In fact, it was a very evil smile.

"I do not tolerate disobedience, Mokuba. You know that."

"No! No! No!" Mokuba found his voice in his panic as the first lash of the Belt struck against his legs. He scrunched his eyes up in terror and pain as the Belt retreated, before darting forward again. Somehow, in his terrified mind, the Belt had become his Father; his Father, the Belt. Whatever it was -- furious, powerful man, or strangely living evil instrument of torment -- he desperately wanted it to leave him alone.

"SETO!" His terror had unlocked his voice.

A crashing noise made him open his eyes and look. Seto was there between himself and Father, the awful Belt rendered powerless and dead in his big brother's hands.

Yugi's gift pulsed. No longer was he a terrified little boy, frightened by a lumbering bully of a man and the threat of a beating. Instead he was filled with a fierce, protective urge that would willingly kill anything that hurt his little brother. This urge was so overwhelming that it sought to drown his reason. He fought to channel it, to control it. If his emotions ever overcame his reason, he was afraid of what he might be capable of doing.

"Never again," Seto said in a low, deadly voice. "Do whatever you want to _me_, but never again do you lift even a single finger against Mokuba!"

Father hauled himself to his feet from where Seto had shoved him to the floor. He wiped a trickle of blood from his nose while his eyes shot daggers of cold poison at his oldest, adopted son. "Very well, boy. You will regret those words, I promise you!"

On those ominous words, the image froze and the point of view shifted a final time. The little boy, five years old, crouched upon the floor, but, bolstered by his big brother's presence, he glared up at the man with pure defiance. The older boy, Yugi "knew" he was fifteen, bore a weary expression of resignation upon his face. He was slight, compared to the menacing bulk of the angry man, but resolved to pit every fiber of his being and every erg of his will against that angry man to protect his younger brother.

The man's expression made Yugi shiver. Under the menace, hatred, and pure evil -- it was blank. There was nothing there at all. Every vile thing he was writhed on the surface. Inside the man, there was only emptiness.

The images morphed, becoming the gemstone dragons of the display case in Kaiba's dragon room, once more. Yugi had a quick psychic impression of the stoic endurance of torment, both physical and emotional, that Seto had accepted to protect his younger brother. A furtiveness attending to those feelings let him know that Seto and his 'Father', Gozaburo, had kept their feud with each other out of Mokuba's sight. Gozaburo wouldn't have cared, Yugi realized. That must have been Seto's idea, to protect his brother from knowing that Gozaburo was torturing him in Mokuba's place. Yugi shook his head, which broke the psychic dream, and woke him up.

He slipped out of the bed, walked to the desk, and poured a cup of water. Mokuba had known. He was too observant a child to not know. But the fact that Seto had tried to keep it away from him meant more to him than the knowledge, and he never let on. Yugi nodded to himself. Kaiba's actions did save Mokuba. He could sense it. But, what effect did they have on _Seto_? Kaiba's fierce protectiveness of his little brother was born of love, Yugi had sensed that, but in the name of that love, what was Kaiba capable of doing? He shivered.


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

Yugi raced into the house he shared with his Grandpa (whenever said Grandpa wasn't gallivanting all over Egypt) and dumped his keys and briefcase on the couch as he dashed by it. He juggled a large manila envelope from one hand to the other so he could tear open the knot of the tie around his neck. Never surrendering the envelope, Yugi juggled it yet again as he snagged an opener from the top of his desk. He plopped into his chair before slitting the envelope and pulling out the contents.

He barely glanced at the top sheet, able to tell immediately that it was simply the polite cover letter that would tell him nothing. He bent over the next page, which was covered in tiny print, to see if this packet, from this company, might be the one... The one that would launch his dream. Overcome with a sudden anxiety, Yugi leaned back and tipped his head up, taking a moment to simply breathe and calm his racing heart down.

Nearly six months to the day, Yugi had caught that wicked blade as it sliced down toward Mokuba. He rubbed the slightly puckered scar across his right palm. He never once regretted that impulsive action. Mokuba was an amazing kid, and Yugi could tell he was going to be at least an equally amazing man. It wouldn't have been at all unusual for Mokuba to feel gratitude, for a while, for what Yugi had done, and then, pulled away as his life settled back into its pre-attack routine. It would have been possible for Mokuba to come to resent Yugi, too, resenting being 'beholden' to Yugi for saving his life -- not that Yugi looked at it that way, at all. Instead, Mokuba had, not unreasonably, become his friend--seemingly viewing him as a back-up older brother. Yugi was happy with this outcome.

Their taste in movies was similar, and Yugi had several video games that Mokuba liked, too. It was easy enough for Yugi to double the amounts when he happened to be cooking something Mokuba liked. The upshot was that Mokuba had become a frequent visitor to his apartment. Over the past several months, Yugi had been invited to the Kaiba mansion a handful of times, too. Even though it had always been Mokuba asking, Yugi was fairly certain Kaiba was behind some of those invites.

As fun as the movies and video games were, the activity he shared most often with Mokuba was 'dueling' -- that is, play-testing Yugi's game. He'd created many new monsters in the last six months, and come up with more intricate combinations of moves along with the standard attack, defense, magic, effect, and trap cards that were the basis of his game system. Mokuba's input was absolutely a godsend, as he was the exact age Yugi was hoping would like 'Duel Monsters' as he called the game. Mokuba, surprisingly, also had solid insights as to how to pitch his idea to various gaming corporations. When one of those companies expressed guarded interest, in the form of a sheaf of papers that Yugi had to fill out in order to secure an interview, and one of the items they were looking for was a character reference, Mokuba had suggested slyly that dropping his name could only help Yugi. 'Kaiba', even attached to young Vice President Mokuba (instead of powerful CEO Seto) commanded respect.

Perhaps too much respect -- or maybe he should make that attention? Seto Kaiba had been none-too-pleased with that when he discovered it last month, Yugi recalled with a grimace...

-- -- -- --

"What do you think you are doing, Mutou?" Kaiba demanded as Yugi lifted a forkful of peas to his mouth. Even though he lost three when he started slightly, Yugi put the rest of the peas in his mouth to buy a minute to get his heart to calm down.

"Eating peas?" he ventured after he swallowed.

"Not that, idiot. I meant bandying Mokuba's name around to Sharmar Entertainment. Surely you don't think that I wouldn't be alerted that you used Mokuba's name as a business character reference?"

"Oh, that."

"Yes, 'that'. Spill it." Kaiba glared at him coldly.

"I can explain, Seto," Mokuba piped up.

"I'm sure you can, but I want to hear it from Mutou."

Here it was, a day Yugi had kinda hoped would forget about coming, or decide he was not worth bothering about. The day he had to reveal his dream to Seto Kaiba. The day he had to swallow his discomfort, bare his heart, and show Kaiba his art, explain his game, and somehow weather the Kaiba Cataclysm of Disdain that was sure to follow.

"But..." Mokuba began.

"I presume you have homework, Mokuba," Kaiba said. "We will finish eating, and you will go do your homework while Mutou and I have a discussion."

Mokuba, hearing the steely resolve in his big brother's voice, nodded miserably and shot several apologetic looks Yugi's way during the rest of that tense meal. After they finished, while the table was being cleared, Kaiba enforced Mokuba's banishment.

"Talk."

"There's... It's... It's a game -- or a concept for a game. Players -- duelists as I call them -- collect cards, like playing cards, but each card shows a monster, or a spell, or a trap, or..."

Kaiba blinked at him. "You bring my younger brother's good name to the attention of one of my business rivals -- as a game?!"

"No, no. That part isn't a game! My idea, the one I'm hoping they will want to back, is a game!"

Slightly mollified, Kaiba sat back in his chair. "Continue."

"I haven't had any luck. Most companies have just rejected me without even looking at my idea."

Kaiba leaned forward again with alarm. "You haven't actually sent your idea to any of them, have you, Mutou?"

"No, I'm not that foolish. Why buy the game-designer's services if you have the game? Most of them reject even meeting with me about it. One company, well, two, actually, have shown some interest. Industrial Illusions seemed very promising, but I haven't heard anything from them in weeks. Sharmar Entertainment wanted me to complete something along the lines of an application before they would consider setting up a meeting. Mokuba suggested, ah, that is, I thought that I could ask Mokuba..."

Kaiba almost-smiled. "I suspect you were more accurate the first time. Mokuba suggested you use his name as your business reference -- for the cachet attached to the Kaiba name."

"Well, uhm, yes. But, I _would_ have asked him. So, don't well, think badly of Mokuba..."

"For his willingness to help his friend? Why would I think badly of him for that?"

"You seem upset..."

"Of course I'm upset! Mokuba might have some skill in the business world, but he's still just a child. The Kaiba name does have tremendous pull, but _Seto_ Kaiba is even more compelling. Why didn't you ask me for the reference, Mutou?" Yugi blinked at him in confusion. "Of course, I'm seeking to protect Mokuba from any fallout or negative association if your idea is a total bust. My name would hardly be tarnished if your little idea tanks, given my business acumen, but Mokuba hasn't quite my 'bulletproof' reputation -- yet."

Yugi bristled at hearing Kaiba's less-than-complimentary comments about his idea. Then he realized that Kaiba was doing it again, just like before. 'Mokuba' hadn't been distressed at Yugi's care at Chessex Hospital -- Seto had. This was simply a backwards version of Kaiba's it-ought-to-be-patented Mokuba Dodge. He relaxed, and even smiled.

"What are you looking so smug about, Mutou?" Kaiba demanded.

"You. You're a big softy."

Kaiba blinked at him, and glared.

Yugi shrugged. "That's not going to work. I'm onto you, Kaiba."

"In your dreams, Mutou. I'm way more subtle than you are obviously giving me credit for."

"Whatever!" Yugi shot one of Kaiba's favorite dodges right at him.

Kaiba's glare increased to radioactive levels. Suddenly, it abated. Alarmed, Yugi sat up, and gulped.

"You need my help, Mutou. I'm not going to let you use Mokuba's name as your business reference -- but you can use mine. With one condition. I have to see this game of yours. If I think it's viable, I will help you gain the interviews you are looking for." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "It's the least I can do."

"Oh... Uhm..."

"What's the matter, Mutou? Is your little game so fragile only Mokuba can see it?" Kaiba sneered.

"Yes!" Yugi shouted. "I don't want you to... It's important to me, dammit! You will think it's foolish or trivial -- and I don't want to hear you insulting it."

Kaiba straightened, folded his hands carefully on the table, and looked down at them. "I don't think anything you do is foolish or trivial, Mu-- Yugi. I owe you so much. Granted, it was the nearly tragic circumstances surrounding my brother's abduction that brought you into my awareness again after high school, but I would not permit Mokuba a continued association with you if you were not worthy of that association." Kaiba looked up. Yugi was shocked to see something very vulnerable in Kaiba's eyes. "Mokuba is so enthusiastic about your game. I've wanted to see it on that strength alone for months. Now that I've offered my not-inconsiderable help..."

Yugi realized that, contrary to what he thought, Kaiba felt left out. He certainly hadn't intended to slight the man by not showing him the game, it had been a matter of his own uncertainty. Seto Kaiba was such a hard person to read. "I didn't want to waste your time," Yugi said softly. "It wasn't anything more than that. I wasn't trying to--to block you out."

"Mokuba comes home from a visit with you brimming with excitement. I can tell he wants to share it with me, but..." Kaiba shrugged. "He's not willing to break faith with you."

Yugi didn't know what to say. Kaiba broke the awkward moment by standing up. "My offer is on the table. It's up to you to decide what you are going to do with it. I will be in the game room if you wish to discuss it further."

Yugi considered for several minutes after Kaiba had left. Really, he had no choice. Not because he wanted Kaiba's help (though he wasn't foolish enough to reject it) but because... Dammit, because he cared. He couldn't help but view Mokuba as the little brother he didn't have, and he knew Mokuba had come to view him with a brotherly sort of affection, too. Nothing like the bond Mokuba had with Kaiba, of course, Yugi would have been alarmed if that had happened, but... Somehow his friendship with Mokuba had extended to include Kaiba, too. At least he thought it had.

Ah, he had no idea! Sometimes it seemed there was some sort of less-than-hostile connection between them, that might, if one were very generous, be termed not completely unlike friendship, and other times Yugi felt certain Kaiba wished Yugi would just disappear. Then again, there was the Mokuba Dodge, when Kaiba claimed Mokuba wanted something, or did something, and it was just a screen for Kaiba to express his own wishes or actions.

_"You. You're a big softy." _ Kaiba hadn't denied it when Yugi said that.

Yugi made his decision and squared his shoulders. Either he was right, and Kaiba actually viewed him with some version of friendship, or the man would despise...

Wait a minute. Why would Kaiba despise his game even if he wasn't Yugi's friend? Dammit, _Duel Monsters_ was a great game, no matter what narrow-minded idiot powers-that-be at giant companies thought! Kaiba wasn't an idiot. Even if he didn't like Yugi on a personal level, surely he would see the value in the game. And, he hadn't said that he had to_ like _the game in order for Yugi to use him as a character reference. He said Yugi just had to _show_ it to him and prove it was viable. Which is so _was_.

The game room at Kaiba Mansion was a gamer's paradise. It was huge, containing every video game system in a huge bank along one wall. A row of theater seats gave bystanders an unimpeded view of the massive screen the games were played on, while the players had plush seats in the game pit directly in front of the screen. In one of the corners of the room there was a mint-condition Dragon's Lair arcade game. The shelves set on another wall held every board game Yugi had ever heard of -- and then some. Game tables and chairs were strewn around the room in strategic groups, so all one had to do was get the box of pieces and set up at the proper table to play a game of chess, for example.

Kaiba looked up when Yugi entered the room. He was seated at one of the plain game tables reading a book. His gaze flicked to the laptop and art portfolio Yugi carried. Without a word Kaiba set his book aside, and folded his hands together in front of him. Yugi had never seen him being so carefully neutral before.

Okay, business. Keep it on a professional, business level and that should work.

"At its heart, _Duel Monsters_ is a collectible card game," Yugi began as he opened his portfolio and handed it to Kaiba. While Kaiba flipped through the art looking at the individual monster drawings, Yugi continued. "Mokuba has been helping me with not only the design of the cards, but refining the rules of play. Even though he's been creative enough to make actual cards for my concept, the rules have been changing, so we opted to keep them on my computer until each card has been finalized."

Yugi opened his laptop, brought it out of its sleep mode, and turned it around so the screen faced Kaiba. "The full rules for the game, and the current description for each card, are here. I think the best way to understand _Duel Monsters_ is to play a game or two for yourself. You can access each card by name. They are sorted alphabetically."

Kaiba nodded. Yugi slid the deck of hand-made cards he'd borrowed from Mokuba across the table for Kaiba to use. He unfolded the game mat that he'd made and flattened it out upon the table between himself and Kaiba. Finally, he pulled out his own deck -- also made for him by Mokuba using scans of his art.

"Let's duel!"

Yugi fretted about it, but couldn't bring himself to play less than his best, so he won the game. To Kaiba's credit, Yugi had to struggle for his win -- even with his Dark Magician card and several of the support cards that boosted the Magician's abilities.

Kaiba nodded. "I suspected you were a finesse player. Your game reflects that. There's nothing wrong with it, but you might be cutting into your potential market if you design your game only for the finesse player."

"How do you mean?"

Kaiba reached over, picked up the Dark Magician card, and looked at it closely. Yugi squirmed. Kaiba almost-smiled.

"This is your card -- probably the whole reason you designed the game in the first place. Come up with alternate art for him -- something more dangerous in appearance and not quite so wholesome. Go after the 'bad boy' image, too. Otherwise, it will become difficult to keep track of things in the inevitable Magician versus Magician duels."

Yugi considered that. In his delirium dreams he recalled a figure turning and throwing a thousand knives at him. He thought it was the Dark Magician -- but not 'his' Dark Magician. Alternate art... There was quite a bit of merit in this idea.

Kaiba continued. "Don't frustrate or cut out the younger gamer who's too impatient to learn how to play the game at that level. Also, there are some players who are power-gamers by nature. Give them a card that can be a credible challenge for the Dark Magician in the hands of a master player. Gain the brute gamer as well as the thoughtful one. Take this card," Kaiba held up the Summoned Skull, the strongest card in his borrowed deck. "and boost the attack and defense. Make it a power card that any player can play fairly easily to make it a reasonable challenge for the more skilled player. The Magician might be your favorite card, Mutou, but he shouldn't automatically own the game. Otherwise, _Duel Monsters_ might as well be named 'Dark Magician Duels' for that's all they'd be."

Yugi nodded. It was something that had been bothering him a bit about the game. He was just too close to it to have put his finger on it so neatly. It hit Yugi with a burst of pure, white light. He'd tentatively started assigning element alignments to his cards, but some of them didn't fit just one element -- like his Dark Magician card. Shadow -- and Light. The rest of the cards that he hadn't been able to classify could fit in either of those categories. But -- Summoned Skull would be a 'shadow' card, just like his Dark Magician. This power 'brute' card Kaiba was talking about should be as diametrically opposed to the Dark Magician as possible...

-- -- -- --

Yugi's eyes refocused on the play of light and shadow across his ceiling. Kaiba's assistance with evaluating contract proposals now was as fully valuable as his observations about the game had been a month ago. He was able to cut through the obscure legal language of each proposal more or less at a glance and explain them to Yugi in real world terms. Yugi grimaced as he read this proposal and realized it wouldn't pass Kaiba's requirements, either.

He sighed, looking at the dwindling list of companies who could conceivably be interested in his _Duel Monsters_ game idea. Some offered far too little backing to be worthwhile. Others offered sufficient backing, but, Kaiba had showed Yugi that he would have to sign away his rights to his own ideas to secure that backing. A few permitted him to keep the rights to his images, setting up convoluted and complex royalty agreements for the exact image, but wrested control for further development from him. Kaiba told him these were the most insidious, for Yugi would see good return for his idea for about a year, then the company would exercise its right to develop the idea as they saw fit, obsoleting and discontinuing any part of the concept that hadn't been developed 'in-house'. They'd cut Yugi right out of his own game.

Didn't any of these companies believe in his idea -- and him -- enough to just back him without taking his control away? Yugi looked through the first pile of proposals again. Yeah, they believed in him, but not enough to help. He sighed, wishing his random psychic gift would deign to help him find the path through this dilemma. Of course it remained uselessly quiescent.

The only thing that gave him the drive to keep trying to find a way to make this work when his own enthusiasm flagged was Mokuba. The kid has an unerring instinct for reading Yugi when he started getting down on his idea -- and himself. When Mokuba looked at him with such hopeful, trusting eyes, Yugi just had to try. Dammit, it would be cool to see all his duel monster images rendered into full-color, glossy cards, along with a clearly written, concise rule book, and a game field playing mat. As new monsters and game ideas presented themselves to him, Yugi could issue expansions. Duelists (even after all this time, it still sounded so much cooler than 'players') could collect or not collect the newer cards at their option. Posters, promotions, _tournaments_... The ideas whirling in his mind were endless. But, they all took money. Money he didn't have, and couldn't figure out how he was going to get. Kaiba estimated he'd need about five million dollars to fund his idea enough for a reasonable chance at success. Five _million_. It seemed hopeless, but, that look in Mokuba's eyes yesterday when he gave Yugi his latest hand-made card inspired Yugi to look the depressing file over again to see if there were some way at all to make it happen -- even as he added another company's inadequate proposal to the mix.

Yugi pulled out his 'deck' and thumbed through it, smiling gently. The cards had randomly uneven edges and they didn't line up as a proper deck of cards would. He ran a thumb along a line of tape on the top card, tacking the paper image more firmly to the stiffer card. Mokuba had tried -- and the cards he made did permit Yugi to refine his game play rules as he could duel Mokuba's deck with his own -- but the unique nature of each card made it easy for both of them to 'cheat' since the cards were anything but uniform. They were pre-marked, so to speak. Still, Mokuba got an A-triple-plus in Yugi's book for effort. And just knowing that Mokuba was so enthusiastic about the possibilities in _Duel Monsters _that he'd take the time and effort to hand make decks for both of them showed Yugi that his idea had the right kind of potential, for the right kind of audience. _Duel Monsters_ could be bigger than any other collectible card game out there -- he just knew it. He just needed backing -- financial backing, enough of it, with conditions that didn't take control away from him, or hamper his ability to adapt the game if the core audience required it, and didn't over-saturate with greedy cross-marketing -- basically a contract that met all of Kaiba's stringent requirements.

If only Industrial Illusions hadn't folded! The phone call Yugi had with Maximillian Pegasus, before some personal tragedy had struck in Pegasus' life, had been the most promising of all. The man had seemed genuinely interested in looking at Yugi's sketches, world and game concept, and proposed development. I.I. was an entertainment company, so they knew how to properly market such things. They'd probably back him enough, and not try to take control of his own game away from him. Perhaps _they_ would have given him the contract that passed Kaiba's scrutiny. If only...

His phone rang.

"So?" Kaiba's voice. Despite the rude brevity of the question, Yugi knew what he was asking.

"No. Hillbro and Sons wants all developmental rights in the contract they sent. I made it clear during the interview that I wanted to retain those," Yugi replied.

"Hmph. Short-sighted fools. There's a reason why they aren't a top-ranked company," Kaiba said. "I have an opening in my schedule Thursday evening. There are two matters I need to discuss with you, so be at my office at seven p. m."

Yugi gaped at the phone. Kaiba, as always, was presumptuous. He finally managed a casual, "Working late?"

"Unavoidably, yes. Not too late, I hope. It depends entirely upon the stubbornness of a business associate."

"Well, I hope he's not too stubborn, then."

"Hmph. Thursday, seven p. m. Don't forget, Mutou." Kaiba hung up the phone.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Yugi was impressed upon his first visit to Kaiba Corporation's offices. Kaiba's understated but unmistakable good taste permeated everywhere. The desk his executive secretary manned was a rich, elegant hard wood polished to a gleaming shine. Beyond state-of-the-art electronics had been set into the surface, and the view screen for the computer was a hologram projected above the desk, keeping it free of any sort of clutter.

A soft chime sounded from the desk. The polished, efficient man who served as Kaiba's executive secretary rose smoothly and walked toward the door behind his desk, keying it open with his palm-print.

"Mr. Kaiba will see you, now."

Kaiba, vaguely menacing in a severe, dark charcoal suit and deep blue tie, rose just as smoothly from his seat behind his even more impressive desk, and took two steps to the side, and two forward to offer Yugi his hand. Kaiba's handshake was firm, no-nonsense -- but surprisingly free of many of the power tactics that could be played -- such as a painfully crushing grip, or an aggressive step toward the other person to assert control over the other's personal space. Complimenting Kaiba's business courtesy dance was a man, also in a dark suit, seated on the other side of the desk from Kaiba. He stood, waited his turn to clasp Yugi's hand, and pump it twice. It was a neutral handshake free of power ploys, accompanied by a clear "Nice to meet you," spoken in a clipped, British accent.

"Mr. Mutou, welcome to Kaiba Corporation," Kaiba said before gesturing to a plush chair in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat."

Yugi wondered what the hell was going on. He was glad that he'd come directly from work, so he too was dressed in a business suit and a tie. CEO Kaiba was daunting in the extreme. Yugi fought down the urge to smile at the recollection of Kaiba's less-than-dignified appearance just the night before...

-- -- -- --

He'd been surprised when he opened the door to his modest home to see Kaiba on his front porch. Mokuba, grinning from ear to ear and standing next to his big brother, he had been expecting.

"Are you just going to gape at us, or are you going to let us in, Mutou?" Kaiba demanded after a long minute.

"Of-of course! Come in, come in!" Yugi turned too fast making room for them to enter and banged his shoulder into the door. The whole evening he couldn't seem to stop tripping, banging into walls and counters, or dropping things. Kaiba had never been to his home before, though Mokuba had become a regular guest in the past few months. Yugi's spazzing reached a dizzying height of humiliation when he tripped -- over nothing -- while bearing part of dinner to the table where his guests were seated in the dining alcove. In a moment of horrified, slow-motion, hyper-awareness, he watched as a plateful of his special appetizer, specifically requested by Mokuba, sailed through the air to land with undignified splats all over Kaiba.

"What the hell?!" Kaiba vibrated with rage as he stood, towering over Yugi, while cold udon noodles, toasted sesame seeds, and strips of seaweed dripped down his clothes to the floor from the top of his head.

"Ohmygod, Kaiba! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to... That is, I tripped..." Yugi spurted out in red-faced mortification before freezing at the cold fury in Kaiba's eyes. Yugi didn't dare move under that frigid regard, but he couldn't help turning his eyes to the left to glance at Mokuba. Mokuba had frozen like a deer in the headlights at the towering pillar of wrath his brother had become -- until a noodle slid down Kaiba's face and audibly plopped onto the floor.

"Snerk!" Mokuba tried to stifle it. Another noodle. Another plop. Another giggle.

"It's not funny." Kaiba's glare swung around to pin his brother.

Mokuba's eyes went wide. Alarmed, Yugi returned his gaze to Kaiba's face, preparing to jump in the way if he tried to go after Mokuba in the mood he was in. Kaiba's fury-filled eyes rested for a long moment on his brother, then returned to impale Yugi on that icy stare, again.

Kaiba finally relaxed, just a bit, and sighed. "Oh, cut it out, you two. I'm not about to go after my little brother for laughing at something..." Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Something I have to admit must look funny. So, stop it with the twin 'puppy eyes of doom' before I..." Evidently uncomfortable with what he was about to say, Kaiba looked down and more noodles and seaweed plopped onto the floor from his head.

"Why'd it hafta be udon?!" Yugi couldn't help but laugh at the aggrieved and put-upon note in Kaiba's voice, a laugh that was echoed by Mokuba. "You know how I feel about this, this -- substandard, food-aping substance, Mokuba!" Kaiba whined. _Whined!_ Yugi's mouth, against his will, dropped open. "Stop gaping, Mutou, and get me a towel. Assuming you have such a thing in your little, udon-infested hovel..."

"Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed. This time Yugi dared to turn to see Mokuba's face fully, and silently agreed with Kaiba's description. Mokuba's eyes were wide, innocent, sparkling, and full of a sort of threatened heart-wrenching hurt that could melt the coldest heart and challenge the strongest resolve if they were to tear up. Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "Knock it off, Mokuba," he advised in a low tone.

Mokuba's lower lip shot out in a bona fide pout before he stuck his tongue out at Kaiba. "Well then, behave, big brother!"

"I'm dripping with udon unwarrantedly flung on me by our 'host'," Kaiba's voice dripped sarcasm, "and you are telling _me_ to behave?!"

"It was an accident, Seto!" Mokuba shouted.

"It's udon, Mokuba! UDON!"

"Uhm...?" Yugi held a towel out uncertainly. Kaiba looked at him and all but snatched it from his hand. "Stop pouting, Mutou."

"I'm not pouting," Yugi protested.

"Yes, you are. Don't you start up with those puppy eyes of doom again, either." Kaiba demanded. "As bad as Mokuba's. Where's your bathroom? I'm still sticky from the..." At Mokuba's warning look he evidently changed what he was going to say. "...the 'mishap'."

Not quite sure what to do after he'd shown Kaiba the bathroom, Yugi had gathered a handful of paper towels from his kitchen and cleaned up the udon and seaweed mess from the floor where it had dripped off of Kaiba. By the time Kaiba had returned, two sets of knocks had sounded on the door. The first one had been Roland, who brought a change of clothes for his employer. Mokuba thanked the man, and scurried off to Yugi's bathroom to give them to his brother. The second one was a delivery from an upscale Italian restaurant delivering -- pizzas. Mokuba had gotten on his cell phone and placed the two calls to mollify his older brother. Despite the seriously rocky start, it had been a good evening, Yugi realized as he refocused his eyes and attention back on the here and now.

"Take a seat, Mutou," Kaiba repeated. After Yugi had complied he went on. "This is Mr. Cumberson from my legal department..."

"I didn't mean it, Kaiba!" Yugi jumped up again in his agitation. "It was an accident!"

"What are you...? Oh. Stop being silly, Mutou. I'd hardly sue over something so trivial. Besides, suing you would be an exercise in futility. Your current earning power and projected wealth wouldn't be worth the time."

Stung, Yugi sat down again. Well, yeah, it was true that Kaiba was wealthy beyond belief, and he, while not poor, certainly wasn't ever going to command even a single percent of Kaiba's riches, but the jerk didn't have to be so dismissively arrogant about it.

"Stop pouting."

"Not pouting."

"You _so_ are."

"Am not."

"Sir?" Mr. Cumberson spoke up. "I can return later if you need a few minutes..."

Sighing, Kaiba stared the man down. "Suffice it to say I'm not going to sue you, Mutou. Mr. Cumberson, if you please?"

The lawyer pulled a single piece of paper from the attaché case across his lap, and handed it over to Yugi. Bemused, Yugi took it and read it over. Though couched in legal terms, the meaning was still clear. He read it again, looking for disclaimers, provisos, and the other catches Kaiba had taught him to look for in contract proposals.

"It's not a contract," Kaiba told him. "It's a reward for saving Mokuba."

Yugi made as if to place it on the desk. "I didn't do it for a reward," he began.

"I know. All the more reason why you deserve it."

"It's five million dollars, Kaiba!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Yes, that is the figure. I can't begin to place a value on Mokuba's life. All the money I have; the full, future earning power of Kaiba Corporation itself wouldn't begin to show that value. I know that you will put that money to good use." Kaiba's reply held a strange sort of serenity.

It was enough for Yugi to try to realize his dream on his own. No strings. No giving up control of his idea, no adapting to a company's thoroughly researched concept of what his 'product' should be...

"I -- can't..."

"Why not? There are no stipulations on what you do with the money. It's a reward you earned. I would have posted that as the next reward level if you hadn't come forward when you did with your crazy stories, anyway. You know that there had been rewards posted from the beginning. I should have given it to you months ago. It is the least I can do."

"I didn't come forward for a reward. It was my visions..."

Kaiba winced. "I should have made that a condition, I suppose. No more nonsense about visions. Why are you smiling, Mutou? I don't trust that expression."

"Admit it, just once -- that I have visions -- and I'll -- I'll accept the reward!" Yugi declared. There! He had him, now. There was no way the great Seto Kaiba would _ever_ admit...

"All right. Just this once, I will admit to you, and in front of Mr. Cumberson who knows better than to mention anything that we say here to anyone else, that I can't explain how you came by the knowledge you did, in regards to where my brother was held, or the danger he was in. Therefore, I have to concede that there is some basis for your assertion that you had 'psychic visions' that led you to Mokuba."

_Wow. Mr. Rigid being not quite so rigid. There's hope for him yet. _Yugi smiled.

"You will accept the reward?" Kaiba asked neutrally.

"Did I have psychic visions?" Yugi countered swiftly.

"Yes."

"Then -- yes."

"Good. Now, no more of that psychic bullshit."

"What? Wait!"

"You said 'just once'. I admitted it, just once, and now you are bound to accept the reward for saving Mokuba."

"Grrr!"

"And, no pouting."

"I don't pout!"

"Mr. Cumberson, is that, or is that not, a pout?"

The lawyer covered his mouth with one hand to cough politely. The cough sounded suspiciously like an aborted chuckle. "I wouldn't know, sir. Do you still wish me to present...?"

"Of course."

Mr. Cumberson pulled out a small sheaf of papers and offered them to Yugi.

"What is this?"

"Since that is, by necessity, written in legalese, please simplify and explain it, Mr. Cumberson." Kaiba directed.

"Of course, sir. At its most simple, this is a contract between Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba to use seed funds provided by Kaiba Corporation to acquire the failing and currently available Industrial Illusions and incorporate an equal partnership company for the express purpose of launching Mr. Mutou's _Duel Monsters _concept for a collectible card game."

Yugi's jaw dropped.

"That stopped your pouting," Kaiba noted with satisfaction.

"I--I--I...!"


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

"You have to do something to make Yugi accept your proposal, Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"I can't do that, Mokuba. If Mutou accepts, it has to be because he wants to and not from any sort of pressure on my part," Seto replied.

"But, _Duel Monsters_ would be such a cool game. Why can't he see that? Why didn't he just accept it when you offered the partnership company?"

"I wish I knew, Mokuba. But, he's had the week to think it over, just like he asked. We should have his answer tonight."

"I hope it's the right answer!" Mokuba said fervently.

Seto grinned down at his little brother, and tousled his hair. "I hope so, too, but don't you tell Mutou that!"

"Mr. Mutou has arrived, sir," Roland stated from the doorway. "And chef informs me that dinner is ready."

Muttering about chef being 'too damned efficient', Kaiba asked Roland to escort Mutou to the small dining room.

"Aw, Seto! Does that mean we hafta wait to find out?" Mokuba whined.

"Mokuba, manners! Yes, it was a dinner invitation, and Mutou contrived to arrive just as dinner is ready, so we have to wait. It wouldn't be proper to discuss business during dinner, in these circumstances," Seto told him as they walked to the small dining room themselves. "Of course, if Mutou brings it up, without prompting from you, mind you, all bets are off."

However, Yugi gave nothing away. Try to read him as best he could, Kaiba could gain no sense of what Yugi's decision might be. He could tell that Yugi had reached a decision, but that was it. Kaiba waited with ill-concealed impatience while tea was brought and poured for them after dinner. After all the forms and protocols for genteel dining had been completely satisfied, Kaiba suggested that they repair to the dragon room for their discussion. Mokuba tried his best to appear casual and include himself in the discussion, but Yugi asked him if he could speak with Kaiba in private, first. Mokuba's face fell at that, first for the exclusion and second, because he greatly feared it meant that Yugi wasn't going to accept the offer.

"But..."

"We will meet you in the game room, later, Mokuba," Kaiba decided. And that was that.

-- -- -- --

"I, uhm, need to get something," Yugi said.

Kaiba sighed. "Fine. I'll meet you there."

One of the guest bedrooms had been set aside a while ago for Yugi's use whenever he was at the mansion. When he'd arrived for dinner tonight, he'd placed his laptop, portfolio and deck in the room in anticipation of the meeting with Kaiba. He couldn't help but worry as he opened the portfolio and looked at his latest work. It all depended upon Kaiba as to whether or not this latest piece would serve to solidify -- or sever the strange, tenuous ties between them...

Yugi closed the portfolio cover with force just short of a slam. _This is no time to second-guess yourself,_ he told himself severely. _Just go, and whatever happens, happens._ Squaring his shoulders he picked up his deck and slid it into his pocket, grabbed his laptop and the portfolio, and left the room -- resolving to beard the dragon in his den.

But, Kaiba wasn't there when Yugi got to the dragon room. Oh, bother! Yugi sat in one of the plush chairs and waited. And got bored. Leaving his things on the desk, he wandered about the room looking at Kaiba's impressive array of dragons. A sudden anxiety to check and make certain that his memory hadn't failed him drew him to the case holding Kaiba's surprisingly personal vignette.

Seto's white alabaster dragon commanded his attention. Yes, Yugi's memory had served. He'd recalled the odd shape of the head perfectly. His gaze wandered across the rest of the dragons in the case, the ugly, lumpy dragon serving as Seto and Mokuba's abusive father, the lapis blue dragon that stood for Mokuba, and... _And?_ Yugi spied a new dragon.

It was a beautiful piece, gleaming a warm gold under the light. It was slightly larger than the lapis lazuli dragon, obviously crafted in the same scale as the other dragons in the case. The wings were an attractively burnished purple fading naturally into a true gold tone the closer they came to the join on the body. Faceted purple gems served as this dragon's eyes, giving them the illusion of sparkling with life.

Kaiba's voice behind him was the essence of dry, disinterested neutrality. "The body is pure gold; however, aluminum was used in a very rare alloying process to render the wings in purple gold. The dragon's front paws are resting on a polished slab of bloodstone. Despite the name, bloodstone is primarily a deep green mineral, so it fits well with the color-scheme. The dragon's eyes..." Kaiba broke off. Yugi turned his head and looked up at him questioningly. Kaiba continued gruffly. "The jeweler who makes these commissions for me threatened to sever our long-standing business relationship over this dragon's eyes. He wanted to find diamonds that contained purple flashes to match the material quality of the rest of the sculpture, but I insisted the eyes be deep purple amethysts."

"It's marvelous," Yugi whispered.

Kaiba shrugged. "It's adequate." Yugi couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. With an almost-smile Kaiba gestured toward the desk before striding over and taking one of the chairs. He waited while Yugi settled in the other one.

"Mutou, what have you decided about my offer?"

"Yes."

"'Yes'?" Kaiba echoed. "As in -- you accept?"

"Yes," Yugi repeated, with a grin. "I had to think about it, Kaiba. I know you are -- grateful for uhm, my actions on Mokuba's behalf..."

"For saving his life, yes," Kaiba noted wryly.

"Yeah. Well, I had to make certain that you weren't offering just for that reason. Out of gratitude. Or something."

Kaiba snorted. "That's why I took care of the reward, first. Hell, Mutou, you're a multi-millionaire, now!"

"I know!" Yugi balled his fists and yelled up at Kaiba. "Give a guy a break, willya?! It's not every day one becomes a millionaire, and then has to make a decision about something as big and life-changing as your offer!"

"That's true enough, I suppose..."

Yugi calmed himself with Kaiba's admission. "I just had to think it all through. And then, this came..." Yugi reached into his portfolio, retrieved a packet of papers, and handed it to Kaiba.

Kaiba took it and skimmed it swiftly. He then started over and read it more thoroughly.

"This offer is acceptable."

"Exactly."

"Are you going to accept it?"

"Hell, no!"

"Why not? You wouldn't have to deal with the difficulty that I appear to be presenting to you," Kaiba asked.

"You idiot," Yugi said fondly. Kaiba's head snapped up and he pinned Yugi with a glare. "You, that is, Kaiba Corporation, offered first. And, Kaiba Corporation's offer is for the formation and development of a partnership company, not merely a satisfactory contract to develop my game." An almost-smile quirked Kaiba's lips. "In that partnership company, I would have access to far more than the 'cachet of the Seto Kaiba name', I'd have access to all the formidable skills of the man himself." Kaiba's eyes shuttered, as if he were shielding himself from flattery. "I'd have to be a moron to not avail myself of that benefit for my company -- no matter who my partner might be."

"So why the delay?" Kaiba asked.

"I had this proposal in the works. I wanted to see how it would come out." Yugi dropped his gaze. "I was hoping it would be a satisfactory contract, you see. That would show me that _Duel Monsters _is actually viable, and your offer of partnership wasn't some sort of -- pity offer, or something."

"You're an idiot, Mutou. _Duel Monsters_, even if you accepted someone else's offer, is going to be huge. It would take massive mishandling and bungling of the first order to kill such a purely simple and profitable idea."

"Hmmm, you're right. Maybe I should reconsider this offer," Yugi reached over and snatched the papers from Kaiba's hands. "They wouldn't mishandle or bungle my idea." Yugi grinned impudently at Kaiba.

Kaiba growled. "You are implying...?"

Yugi widened his eyes ingenuously, and shamelessly reached for the expression Kaiba called his 'puppy eyes of doom'. "Implying? I'm not implying anything. It's just that Kaiba Corporation isn't really known as a _gaming_ company. Simple as it is, my idea might be beyond their scope of expertise."

"Uh-huh." Kaiba leaned back in his chair. "You are pure evil, you know that, Mutou? Your idea wouldn't be developed by Kaiba Corporation. It will be developed by us -- you and me. You aren't planning on mishandling or bungling it, are you?"

Yugi shook his head.

"And you know better than to imply that I would -- I hope."

"It's going to be fun, isn't it?" Yugi grinned.

"You've no idea, Mutou. Kaiba Corporation has been working on a hologram emitter. I think the technology can be adapted to bring the duel monsters to 'life' -- making the game more immediate than placing cards down on a table. 'I play my mighty Summoned Skull!' followed by the dramatic slap of a card on a table loses much of the impact. Imagine if what seemed to be a real Summoned Skull appeared on a large field between two duelists."

Yugi imagined it. 'Real' monsters? Duelists facing each other across huge fields, having to shout their commands? That would be awesome, actually. "We need a name for our company."

"Mutou and Kaiba."

Yugi stopped at that. Wow, Kaiba would put his name first? That was an honor he certainly didn't expect.

"Uhm, well..."

Kaiba glared. Yugi gulped.

"That is -- how about something less business-like, and more...uhm, evocative? 'Industrial Illusions' is a cooler name than something like 'Pegasus Enterprises' would have been," Yugi stammered.

Kaiba steepled his fingers and looked at Yugi through them. "Our company is focused on the game _Duel Monsters_," he agreed. "A cooler name would suit. 'Duel Monsters'?"

"That serves for the game, but not for these hologram generators you are talking about. Say, what are you going to call them?" Yugi asked.

"I hadn't thought of it, yet. Significant work needs to be done to reduce the size. Right now, you'd have to have a specially designed room with the emitters placed in key positions. Not the sort of thing the average gamer would be able to afford. I'm sure something will come to me as I refine the design. You're right though, Mutou. _Duel Monsters_ is the product, it would limit us as the name of the company," Seto mused aloud.

"There are two of us. Duo?" Yugi ventured.

"Eh, too Batman-esque. Dual?"

Yugi nodded. "Dual _what,_ though?"

"We are making a game."

"No, not making. Designing! Dual Designs!"

Seto nodded. "I like that. Dual Designs, Inc. DDI."

Yugi beamed. Seto almost-smiled. "There will be reams of tedious paperwork tomorrow to finalize it, but we can tell Mokuba about it tonight."

Yugi nodded, fingering the cards in his pocket lightly. There was one more thing he had to accomplish tonight. Mokuba had been excluded from this discussion, which might have hurt his feelings. Including him now might help to make up for that.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

"So?!" Mokuba bounced up to his brother's side. "What happened?"

"Mutou found a grain of sense in that two-toned (or is it three-toned?) head of his and said yes," Kaiba told him. "We are going to call the company Dual Designs, Incorporated."

"Yay!" Mokuba couldn't contain his excitement, happy for both his brother and his friend.

"I--I've made a change you might be interested in, Kaiba," Yugi ventured carefully. "To the balance of the game, based upon our duel."

"Hmph. Is that some lame way to ask me to duel?"

Yugi grinned. Kaiba was still a prickly jerk. He supposed he'd have it no other way. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I'll go get my deck," Mokuba offered.

"Oh, thank you, but..." Yugi opened his portfolio and pulled out a deck. Unlike the cards Mokuba made, these were uniform of size and bore an identical pattern on the back of each card. "I was able to have some professional prototype cards made."

"Oh." Mokuba seemed disappointed.

"The deck you made for me, that I was using before, is one of my treasures. I've placed it in a special box in my house, Mokuba. _Duel Monsters_ would not be as cool as game as it is if not for your help -- both with making those first cards, and with the changes to the game that you helped with. I've got a box for you here," Yugi offered. "It has every single _Duel Monsters_ card there is."

"Cool! Thanks, Yugi!" Mokuba glanced up at his friend. Yugi smiled, and handed the box of cards over.

Yugi fussed for a moment spreading the dueling field mat on the table, before closing his portfolio, setting it down on the floor, and finally sliding the deck across the table to Kaiba. "It's time to duel!"

As Yugi had hoped, setting up for the duel distracted Kaiba sufficiently so that he did no more than glance through the cards in the deck Yugi supplied him with. Yugi retrieved his deck from his pocket, shuffled the cards gently, and slid them toward Kaiba for the cut, even as Kaiba slid his shuffled deck toward Yugi for the same service.

"Let's duel!" Kaiba growled.

The game unfolded as Yugi had hoped. He got his Dark Magician out early, equipped him with a few key support cards, and dominated the game. Kaiba thinned his mouth in irritation as his deck gave him nothing helpful to deal with Yugi's Magician. Mokuba sat back from the table and watched, but split his time with looking at the prototype cards. He gasped and sat up straight. Both Yugi and Kaiba glanced over at him.

"What's wrong, Mokuba?" Kaiba asked. Yugi suspected he knew, so, out of Kaiba's sight, he shook his head minutely at the boy, and hoped Mokuba wouldn't ruin his surprise.

"Nothing, Seto. I'm just a little shocked at the change in one of the card's appearance. It's awesome!" Mokuba grinned up at Yugi. When Kaiba looked back at the duel on the table, he winked at Yugi.

"I'm glad you are having fun," Kaiba grumbled, as he drew a new card to start his turn. "Yugi's Magician..."

Yugi looked up as Kaiba's voice trailed off. Kaiba's expression was such a blank, Yugi knew he'd taken his new partner completely by surprise. The card Kaiba held now had been designed off of Yugi's memory of the sapphire-eyed alabaster dragon in Kaiba's dragon room. The dragon that Yugi knew full-well represented Seto himself in that vignette. There was a pleasing symmetry to how the night was unfolding. Yugi had been astonished by the gold and purple dragon Kaiba had commissioned and placed in the case. Yugi knew that Kaiba knew that he realized the significance of that dragon, and the placement -- guarding the lapis lazuli dragon on the side opposite the alabaster one. Kaiba had given him a dragon. It now seemed more than right that Yugi had already planned to return that favor.

"My Magician -- what?" Yugi blinked up at Kaiba with as much innocence as he could muster.

Kaiba looked down at the board. Yes, he had two monsters he could tribute. Somehow he suspected Mutou had manipulated the game so he would. "Your Magician has just met his match! I play my mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba roared.

"Oh, you're in trouble, now, Yugi!" Mokuba crowed, scooting his chair next to Kaiba's. "You unwisely gave my brother a dragon. He's totally gonna cream you!"

Yugi laughed at Mokuba's defection. To add insult to injury, the kid was right. Kaiba trounced Yugi thoroughly, taking down his Dark Magician after a lengthy battle.

"So, what do you think of my 'brute card for the lazy, power gamer'?" Yugi asked with an excess of innocence.

Sure enough, Kaiba's head whipped around at that. Then, Kaiba smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile.

"Watch it, Mutou."

"Watch what?" Yugi laughed. "Blue-Eyes _is_ designed to be easy for the lazy, power gamer to use as long as there are two tribute monsters to get him out on the field. But, he can be finessed, too. It seemed only right to make him -- versatile. Perhaps even a bit -- unpredictable."

"Hmph." Kaiba glared, but Yugi could tell he was pleased. Extremely so. Mokuba confirmed it by reaching out and hugging his brother.

"Isn't it cool, Seto? A card, just for you!"

Kaiba glanced at his little brother before his stare returned to Yugi. An unholy gleam formed in his eyes.

_Uh, oh._

"Duel Designs, Incorporated... Our symbol will have to be a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, of course." Kaiba leaned back and challenged Yugi with a glance that was half a glare.

"Blue-Eyes? Hah! Dark Magician!" Yugi countered.

"Hardly. My Dragon could tromp your Magician."

"Not if you can't find him." Yugi grinned tapping the Magical Box card that had given him two turns more play than Kaiba had anticipated. "Not to mention, both the Magician and the Dragon are _mine_."

Yugi's eyes sparkled as they issued the challenge to him. He wasn't about to back down. Kaiba found he was obscurely pleased by that. _Equal partners, huh? Yugi has guts. Loyalty, too. _ Kaiba reflected that it could be a heck of a lot worse than to be partners with Yugi Mutou. Besides, if Dual Designs, Inc. failed, he did still have Kaiba Corporation, even if he didn't quite know what to do with the ex-weapons manufacturing company.

"Hmph. You might have designed it, but the Dragon is clearly _mine_."

"Of course, Kaiba," Yugi replied in such a sweetly compliant tone that Kaiba sat forward against the threat. "Of course, this is only a preliminary design for the card. I could always change it. What do you think -- Blue-Eyes could be pink -- and super-deformed. That would be cute, don't you think, Mokuba?"

Mokuba made frantic, warding motions with his hands, not wanting to be involved in this, at all.

"You wouldn't... Over your dead body, Mutou," Kaiba finished. He seemed to consider something. "Okay, _your_ Dark Magician riding on the back of _my_ Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Yugi gasped. That was a concession he never expected.

"No bridle. No reins. Dark Magician has to trust Blue-Eyes isn't going to let him fall." Seto added softly. "Oh, and Dark Magician has to have his hand up, holding his staff above his head, like so." Seto raised his right hand over his head as if he were holding the staff Yugi had drawn in his Dark Magician's hand. "For triumph. Because with the two of us, our company is going to be a success."

"You really think so, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

"I give us -- a year. One year from now, you'll see. _Duel Monsters _will be the 'in' thing -- the game, the cards Yugi's going to design, the duel disks _I'm_ going to design, t-shirts, party favors, piñatas." Seto grinned at Mokuba, then turned his smile toward Yugi. "DDI, and _Duel Monsters_, is going to be huge."

"'Duel disks'?"

"Yeah, Blue-Eyes is too cool to be restrained in a card." Kaiba felt -- giddy. "I'll figure out how to miniaturize the holo-emitters and pair them with a tiny computer powerful enough to render your monsters in life-like sizes. Duel disks. It fits with _Duel Monsters_ and if I work with a circular design, I think I can reduce the lag time from when a card is played and the holographic monster actually appears."

Yugi's eyes gleamed oddly purple in the light. "You think you can... Is it really possible?"

"Trust me," Seto said, suddenly serious. "At least as much as I trust you." His gaze slid meaningfully toward Mokuba.

"Seto!" Mokuba suddenly whined. "I wanna play!"

"Okay, just let me..." Kaiba reached out to gather his cards up.

"No! I want to play against _you_!" Mokuba stood over Yugi, glared down at him, and growled, "Move it, Mutou!" in a creditable copy of his older brother's typical attitude. Yugi bowed deeply and ceded the chair.

"I'm gonna beat you, Seto!"

"In your dreams, Mokuba."

"Let's duel!"

-the end-


End file.
